Load of Scrap

2009-11-10T13:37:00.001-08:00

-- Post From My iPhone

2009-05-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

Fun new site...

2009-05-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

www.wajas.com
I'm mainly using this to image host for a few things at the moment....

Test

2009-04-13T10:07:00.001-07:00

Test

-- Post From My iPhone

My pattern....

2008-10-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

So, obviously my pattern is generally that I'm a fairly good blogger for a month or two, then a terrible blogger for a month or two (ie: I DON'T).
Oh well...live with it!!!
haha
No, seriously, sometimes, I have to step back from my computer and stop letting it consume hours of each evening. It can become hard for me to put it down, and when it does, I put it down, deliberately, for awhile!

Anyway, one thing I've been doing a lot of lately is writing. So, a quick "here I am again!" post of a poem that I wrote recently!.....

The Tree

Did you watch it grow?The tree that they cut down
And broke you on?

Did you watch the seed
Land upon fertile soil?
Was it you that chose
The precise location?

Did you water the seed daily
With rain, and morning dew
And watch it sprout first green?

Did you protect it from cattle
And children, in a busy place?
Or did you place it away,
Where it could grow unbothered?

Did you grow it tall
And strong
Or did you keep it small
And twisted in sadness?

Did you think
Long and hard
About what was to come
From this simple little tree?

Did you watch
As it was hewn from the ground
And hauled away, and know
Even as the lumbermen did not
Where it would go?
Did you cry a tear on the day
That it showed up
At its final resting place?

Did you think,
As you carried it from the city
Upon a torn and broken body
Of the beautiful thing it once was?

Did you think
Of this beautiful thing
You had created
Turned to a thing of darkness and evil
Of suffering and pain
Of death?

Did you scream
When they hammered the first nail
Into your wrist?
Or the second?

Did you cry
When they hoisted the broken tree
Into the air
And dropped it into a hole?

Did you weep
When the people laughed
Or when your mother cried?

Did you long for death
So you could return to your Father
So you could break the veil
So you could lead the way?

Did you plant the tree?

Did you do all of this for me?

The One About the Peanut!

2008-07-25T16:30:00.000-07:00

Wow! Pregnancy sure has me tired, nauseous, and hard of breathing...but boy, is it ever amazing to think of the miracle happening inside of me!
I got a 'medically neccessary' ultrasound this morning, since we really weren't positive about the 'date of last cycle', and it's really important because of the fact that I'll have a C-section just a bit early because of the last one. (Thank goodness for modern medicine....Kennedy was a rush c-section, and needed emergency resscusitation!! Scary stuff!).

Anyway, depending on the gender of the new baby (which we'll find out at 20 weeks--I'm at nine right now), the baby'll come somewhere between the 13th and 20th of February as of now.

The actual due date is February 27th. Kennedy's due date, for the record, was February 26th....oops!!

haha

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Anyway, here are some pics of our 'peanut'. Apparently, the round bit above the head is the yolk sac, and along the wall underneath, there is a light shadow of the placenta beginning to form....it will be formed at around 12 weeks. The little bitty line that looks like it might be a leg is the umbilical cord. And we got to see the little heart beating, and, of course, hear it. Everything looks great! We're very excited!

The one about the Test

2008-06-27T10:54:00.000-07:00

Here is the pregnancy test I took this morning....

I'll let you draw your own conclusions.....

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(and, may I say....YIPPEE!!!!!)

The one about...yeap...you guessed it!

2008-06-17T22:07:00.001-07:00

LOVE this poem...thought it was beautiful. Still working on a title. In the meantime, I figured I'd file it. Often works better to come back to something I'm stuck on a long time later. Chipboard flower is from Kim's, my LSS, and painted.
10 things I love about my little DD right now. LOVE LOVE LOVE that KI memories lace cardstock! Still the prettiest of them all. Labels are done with my little $5 Dymo label maker, then rubbed over the letters lightly with some Staz-on.
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Cute li'l girl!!

The one about...well...more...uh....pages.....

2008-06-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

Ohkay, so, I'm guilty! I realize now that I forgot to blog about the outcome of our visit to the ENT...well, there was mildly significant hearing loss, so the decision was made to put in tubes. We had them done really quickly, and indeed, had tubes while we were in Puerto Rico. Awesome for the flights!!

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We go in for our follow up tomorrow, so, pray that all is well for her!
She really does seem to be hearing and feeling much better...it's actually kind of amazing how much more vocalizing she now does!

And, the surgery went really well. Since she's such an incredibly social and curious little girl, it was decided that she didn't need the 'silly juice' to make her more calm before the surgery, which was nice, b/c once she woke up, she wasn't really woozy or lethargic. Of course, she wanted to eat before and after the surgery, but couldn't, so she was a little cranky, but I think that she did extremely well for such a little girl, not understanding anything about what was going on! And talk about grateful! Here we were for tubes...a little scary, but super routine and easy surgery with virtually no side effects, and while we're waiting, all nervous and praying for her, we here other people who are there for biopsies to see if there is cancer, and a little girl whose intestines aren't working right is there for exploratory surgery, and etc. etc....how much worse, to be waiting on literally life and death results? Scary scary! So, we prayed for those kids and their family's, as well.

Anyway, here are a few more pages, just b/c I've gotta get these posted sometime!!
haha

If you're looking for a slightly unusual technique to use on your photos, try printing onto textured white or ivory cardstock. You can due B&W or colour, but if you're doing colour, I'd fade it out a little bit. You can then take a bone folder, and rub a little of the ink off, and let the texture shine through. Makes for a really neat effect. This is a page about having no regrets, and being pleased with where and what my life is right now. Paper is Basic Grey. Couldn't stand to cover those moths, so I cut them our and slid the photo under the cut out areas.

Kennedy is OBSESSED with the remote. Here is a photo series of her after it from across the room. The numbers and arrows are from a couple different sets/colours of chipboard, that I painted with acrylic paint to make them match my LO better. Paper is GORGEOUS and is from Kaiser Crafts...my LSS Kim's Scrap and Crop just started carrying some...this stuff was a give-away for NSD...but their paper is absolutely AWESOME!!!!

Basic grey paper, four different flower from prima, bazzil, and random other places--silk, paper, felt, and fabric...lots of texture, and a jewel brad for a center. Paper is basic grey. Title made with cricut design studio. No journalling on this page (unusual for me) but, really, it's just Kennedy at her toy box.

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The one about even more of the pages....

2008-06-12T22:00:00.001-07:00

They aren't going to stop anytime soon! I finally photographed lots and lots of 'em!!
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Here's a reflection on watching my little girl grow up...I finally got around to scrapping these 3 mths old photos of her when she was around 9 ms. old....what a difference!! And, to distress the edges of the photos.....

A very simple little trick....just use your paper piercer, or even a tack! to scratch lines into the finish on the photo....if you want an even more distressed look, take distress ink by ranger, rub a soft cloth onto the pad, and then make little circles over your lines. Rub excess off photo itself, and you have nice aged looing lines. (I didn't age these lines like that...)

The hospital Kennedy was born at....just a nice, simple page. Chipboard is painted with acrylic paint (one of my favorite supplies). Background is a circle cut into the middle of dbl. sided paper, then flipped around, and taped back into place. Journaling stamp is Autumn leaves. All paper is bobunny. Quick, simple, not my best layout, but good enough.....

Maybe someday this page'll get a titlem but in the meantime, I just adore the poem. The chipboard flower is from my LSS (Kim's Scrap and Crop) and is, as usual, painted with acrylic paint. I mixed two colours to get closer to the cardstock colour. The poem says:
You are the trip I did not take
You are the pearls I cannot buy
You are my blue Italian lake
You are my piece of foreign sky.
Stamps of Love, Elsie.

Labels are the cheapest label maker I could find...that beautiful die cut is, of course, KI Memories lace cardstock...other companies now make it, but theirs is (IMHO) still the best. Pic is of Kennedy on her Daddy's b-day, wearing a bow from one of his presents. She actually found great humor in the wearing of it. Labels chronicle ten things I love about her right now....
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She's SUCH a doll!!!
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The one about the pages...

2008-06-11T16:14:00.001-07:00

Okay, so, since I've been such a bad, bad blogger, I've not uploaded any new pages or work in quite a long long long time!! I have been scrapping, however, meaning that I'm rather behind....so, here are a few to get us started......

Here's the very simple front page to my multiple page spread about our trip to the Pumpkin Patch this past October....

The second page. Obviously a two page spread. Journaling is about our day.

Third (dbl) page...Pumpkin Express and info about the little mini-train that we got to ride around the park.

Fourth...we went with the Bridges and Kennedy had fun playing with their daughter, Reagan....

Final page (I forgot to crop it...oh well...I was having trouble with photos anyway!) Notice the little pumpkin that she has in her hands...and, indeed, in her hands in every photo in all of the layout previous to this one...she absolutely adored that pumpkin! It was very sweet....

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The One about the Word Book

2008-06-10T20:23:00.000-07:00

Y'know, I'm not even a HUGE Friends fan...and yet, I still like their titling method....I think it's cute...so there!

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Anyway, this past week, I got myself a very cool new toy! It's called a "Bind-it-all" and...well...it binds things. Gives them a beautiful very professional looking binding on ANYTHING that you want.

Even before that, I got a different new toy--cricut design studio. This lets you meld shapes and letters together, and, using 'multi-cut' even cut chipboard. Pretty awesome stuff that you can do with it!
So, put the two together, and you get...word books!!! Very cool! Here are some photo's of the first word book I put together...now I just have to decorate it!!

I chose 'beauty'. in 6x12 size, I can do anything up to 7 letters. If I make them shorter, I can do higher numbers of letters.

Here's the page between "E" and "A"...you can see how nice that binding looks.

Another look at the bind-it-all binding.

And even closer look...this machine can punch through chipboard, cardstock, even acrylic, up to 3 mm thick.

One more pic of the whole thing...it's a "beauty", eh?
Haha...I'm so funny...(no, not really!!)

The one about the New Toy!

2008-06-10T20:13:00.001-07:00

Okay, so, it's been a terribly long time since I've posted, but, here goes!!

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Kennedy got a new toy today. She didn't know that she either wanted or needed it, but she got it because Mommy wanted it because it is, after all, a zebra! and Daddy was ever so nice and got it for her her today. Isn't she cute on her little bounce'n'spin zebra by fisher price!?!

And, one for the records....here is 'Daddy' stretching out a pair of Blee's sunglasses...cute, eh!?!!

The one about the ENT

2008-04-28T21:04:00.000-07:00

Well, back from the ENT today, and we have decided that tubes are the best option now. She was experiencing reduced hearing accuity, and she was also infected in both ears once again. Good news is, we got in before we go to Puerto Rico, which is great! No worries about flying with her now! The whole experience was actually really comfortable (though Kennedy didn't really seem to think so). It was a couple looks in her ears, then a test where they made sounds and if she looked toward them, she was rewarded by a toy that 'danced' and lit up all pretty for her. Kind of a neat little experience. At this point, the decision is we either wait and see what happens with her ears and risk some permanent hearing loss--been there, done that--or we have the tubes put in. The risks associated with the surgery are virtually none and she'll feel better, hear better, and be healthier because of them. We're actually kind of excited to have it done. Then maybe she can be the really healthy little girl that we know is in there!The surgery itself should take 5-10 minutes, recovery from the general anesthesia should take about a half hour, then we can take her home, and by that afternoon, she is supposed to be back to her old self. And what I hear from other parents who had kids who had tubes put in, it's like their children are a whole new human being--happier and better sleepers and etc. And, if Kennedy gets happier and to be a better sleeper, and etc....well, then she'll be about perfect, I think!!!=0 )

In the meantime, here are a few photo's of my girlie.....

Oh, and if you haven't looked, my husbands blog is connected on the bar to the right. Have a look! It's called "Pushing Back the Darkness"

Outside of Babes in Sanger. What you don't know is that she got SO angry earlier in the day about wearing a dress that was keeping her from crawling well that she threw up all over it in the car on the way to church, and she's wearing a random jacket and jeans that were so small they don't even button up. She sure doesn't look like a baby who was just that angry, does she? She has worn that dress since, BTW, now that she can walk...it's a gorgeous little orange number that Grandma got her with a big orange flower on the front that poofs out super cutely and sways around as she wobbles about.

First day in her new 'big girl' carseat. I think that a little bit of carsickness from the sudden switch to forward facing is actually what caused the vomit episode spoken of earlier.

Makin' faces at Babes in Sanger...she's so cute!!!

Many evenings, we let her feed herself, as we feel it's important she have opportunities to do things for herself. I even let her pick her outfits for daycare already. I think some days she actually understands what she's doing. In any event, here is our little Blee (her nickname) COVERED in dinner....and what a great look on her face...."What have I done?!?"

All clean after her bath that same day.....this is how we really know it's bedtime...she tells us in no uncertain terms that she's done being awake. At this point, we change her diaper, put her in her pyjama's, give her a bottle of milk (the only time she gets a bottle anymore...usually she gets a sippy, but at night, we give her one bottle) lay her down, and within five minutes, she's gone for the night. I LOVE that our daughter goes to bed so well!! It wasn't for lack of work, either....there were many nights of sitting in there, talking to her, singing, telling her it was okay, etc....but, she's finally got it!!
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The one about the napless girl....

2008-04-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

So, our little blee is not typically a big cuddler. She tends to be quite independent and likes to hug/cuddle for a moment here, or a couple short moments there.
She just isn't into being held...turns into squirmy blee and wants down down down!
But, today daycare informed me that she didn't nap, nor did she eat weel (she has four teeth breaking skin!) and I brough her home...she actually sat in my lap and even cuddled a little bit for over an hour!!
It was rather sweet!
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So, I've decided that I will keep her home tomorrow--not take her to daycare. We do, after all, need our quality time together!!!
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I think I will even take her to just a few garage sells tomorrow!!
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Bethany

The one about The Comfort of Sovereignty

2008-04-10T21:11:00.001-07:00

I am so glad that I am a Christian. It is the most amazing feeling to wake up every morning, and know that today is not a day that I need to get through on my own power. I recently had a 'final straw' type experience that left me about as stressed out as I've been in months. This stress and anxiety was me attempting to control my own life, when the bible is clear that it is God who controls all:

"Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will" Ephesians 1:11

And I do mean, ALL. As I have come to realize--my difficult week was simply God teaching me a little something. A lesson that I needed to learn about my own sins. In addition, He was using it to teach me to lean in to Him. To breathe Him in, and to make Him the center of my being and of my life.

All things are ordained and made by God--for what? For His own glorification. He is an amazing God who has given us life and breath. He gives us all--everyone on this earth--some form of 'common grace' that is--all good things come from God, and He gives us all good things, even those of us who do not deserve them (aka all of us) or those who have received our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We are all His children, and He loves us all--even those who have not been called to His service and glorification.

But my words do no justification to the reality of God's sovereignty, and the peace and comfort that this brings into my life. There was a famous pastor in the history of the Christian church named Charles Spurgeon who words it so much more beautifully......

"There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God's sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that Sovereignty has ordained afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all. On the other hand there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, no truth of which they have made such a football, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of God. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on His throne. They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense alms and bestow blessings. They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion worlds and make stars. They will allow Him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends His throne, His creatures gnash their teeth, and when we proclaim an enthroned God, and His right to do as He wills with His own, to dispose of His creatures as He thinks well, without consulting them in the matter, then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on the throne is not the God they love. But it is God upon the throne we love to preach. It is the God upon the throne Whom we trust."

The one about the first steps...

2008-04-09T20:48:00.000-07:00

OK, photo's are coming quickly, but, most exciting news yet (more or less!!), little Miss Kennedy took her first steps last night! Super adorable!
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At 8:26 on Tuesday, April 8th, Kennedy took two little bitty steps! How wonderful! Best birthday present a gal could ask for!!
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Anyway, as I said, photo's are coming....just not quite yet! She wanted to go to bed, not walk for the camera tonight!
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Bethany

The one about the bathing suit....

2008-03-14T16:12:00.001-07:00

Kennedy's Aunt Ali got her a beautiful little swim suit for her birthday, so come that lovely late afternoon light, out we went for a little photo shoot....got some lovely little shots, and really looking forward to her wearing it in Puerto Rico!!!

The one about family love...

2008-03-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

I love my family! They really are the greatest gift that God has blessed me with. Every day I look at my daughter, and can hardly believe the amazing miracle that she is. Every time she learns something new, she deepens my awe in God. Every time she looks at me, she makes my heart hurt a little bit more. Every time I think I love her as much as physically possible, I come home from work to see her, and realize that I love her just a little bit more today than I did yesterday.

God gave us parenthood so that we can truly understand how much He loves us. As much as we love our children, that is only the tip of the iceberg for how much He loves us. In addition, it also helps us understand how great His sacrifice was when He watched His one and only Son nailed to the tree.

Really makes me stop and think.

The one about the birthday

2008-03-08T21:36:00.000-08:00

Kennedy's first birthday has officially come and gone! What an amazing little girl we have. Some of her amazing little milestones....
She officially signs for 'please' (usually when she wants into her sit and spin, etc.), she signs for 'bottle' and she signs for 'bed'. Pretty amazing little girlie!!
She's crawling on all fours, and pulling up.
She points at things she wants or is interested in.
She says "Yaiya! (Kaiya)" "Dada" "Daddy" "Hi (and waves when someone comes in or says hi to her)" "Mmmmm (when she eats something she likes)"
She likes food. Any of it. Especially fond of tomatoes and veggies and ham and anything Mommy or Daddy are eating.
Is transitioning from a bottle to a sippy cup.
Can put her own pacifier back in when she's sleeping!
Can blow kisses.
Hugs her stuffed toys and people.
Puts her big plastic coins in her piggy bank.
Can now puch the little balls into the giraffe's mouth (she's been trying for months!)
She's pulling up (and getting into everything!)
Goes to sleep when we put her to bed right away every night.
And so many other things.

I am about to be a stay at home Mommy! (Very very soon....my last day at work is March 28th). That is VERY exciting!!! =0 )

Kennedy was lucky enough to get a white birthday! Craziness to get 7" of snow on March 6th in Texas, but it happened! Very suddenly, too....took me almost two hours to make a drive that normally takes 20 minutes....yuck! But, what a beautiful day once we were home!!! Kennedy was NOT interested in the snow! Still too young.

For Kennedy's birthday, we gave her a cake to go crazy on.

The next night, we had a small party with a couple of our closest friends at Cici's pizza (a cheap pizza buffet). What a ton of fun!! I truly do miss getting together with everyone. Something I'm hoping to do more of once I'm a stay at home Mommy!
And finally, today, we took her to Build-a-Bear, and she picked out a stuffy for herself. That was a remarkable amount of fun!!

The one about the little elvin girl

2008-02-19T22:31:00.000-08:00

Paper: Bobunny, Daisy D's. Rub-ons: MAMBI. Die-cut letters: Cricut. Journaling Genie: Chatter-Box.

Every once in awhile, it's fun to take a photograph that's not in normal orientation. Now, it can be a little more difficult to scrap, but it leads to a little more variety when someone is flipping through your scrapbook.
Somthing to note about this one: notice that the direction she's facing is in to the layout...this draws the eye into the journalling, as it's natural for the eye to follow the gaze of the main subject. As often as possible, you should try to place your photographs looking into, rather than out of, your page.

The one about a sick child

2008-02-17T14:21:00.000-08:00

Well, we have had our first real run in with true baby girl illness. She began to run a fever on Thursday, it continued through Friday, and finally we brought her in to the office on Saturday to get looked at, as it got all the way up to 104 degrees, and just wasn't coming down! Doctor confirmed our suspicion of an ear infection...double ear infection, actually. Poor little girl! So, now this is ear infection number three, and we're going to have to watch an see how many more she gets....we might have to consider some alternate options for allergy control, as the allergies seem to be the root of these ear infections. She has the same allergies as myself...nasty post nasal drip that irritates, and causes cough and discomfort. Only difference is that while I can be put on loratidine, flonase, astelin, mucinex, benadryl, zyrtec, and singulair, individually or all at once as needed, she's stuck basically with just one weak little allergy med....poor little girl! As she turns a year, though, she'll have some more options, and hopefully we'll be able to get rid of some of these ear infections she's been struggling with!
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In the meantime, though, it doesn't make it any better helping her with her pain and discomfort...not to mention the fright of those awful high fevers. It's so very hard to be completely helpless to fix her. I'm not looking forward to when she has some of the other illnesses that include vomiting and other symptoms...this all by itself was plenty nerve wracking!
Not to mention that I can't leave work to be with her--a big reason to be really serious about saving up to be a stay at home mommy!!

On a side note, I got my new glasses in from the lab...what fun they are! Kinda crazy looking, and just a whole lot of fun!
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That's it for now, just a quick note about the helplessness I've felt the past several days. And the relief of leaning in and feeling a nice, cool forehead!!!

The one about cleaning up

2008-02-10T21:03:00.000-08:00

I have spent several days lately cleaning and organizing my scrap space...I spent some of my husbands annual bonus (not too much, but a little bit!) on storage for my scrap area...now just to figure out how to keep my daughter out of it! She thinks (of course) that it's great fun to open the drawers and pull things out. At least she hasn't figured out how to open the paint bottles yet!!
Anyway, cleaning, as always, has led to a creative 'splurt' (no, not a real word, but, a favorite, despite that fact!)
=0 ) Here a few of my somewhat recent pages....(my most recent haven't even been photographed,yet!)

Look at those three beautiful girls! Can you tell how proud Auntie and Grandma are? (and who wouldn't be with a girlie like that!) Now, this is one of those cases of "if you don't like the chipboard, change it!" Originally, it was a very cute orange and blue, but, it wouldn't match the layout at all. So, two layers of acrylic paint, and away we go!!! If the finish is too glossy to paint on, then take your files or sandpaper to it, and then paint away!

I am happy to announce that she now enjoys swinging much more! The way the journalling strips are designed is to indicate the movement of the swing.....

Look at that big girly grin! This is a very ultra simple page...PP in the background, a stip of the cloud 9 chocolate chalet paper, a journalling block, title, and three pictures, pretty much! The dragonfly is nice, b/c it's made from the PP....very simple way to ground a couple of different elements together. The BG paper is a little busier than I normally use, but in this case, with the heavy cluster of photo's right in the center, it helps offset the busyness of the paper.
Just a nice simple page, made to play with my new cricut....look at the purple lacing on the bright pink CS....amazing how delicate it can cut!!

The one about chocolate chalet

2008-01-22T17:59:00.000-08:00

This is a piece of the Heidi Grace "Chocolate Chalet" paper...it is so pretty! I often find paper like this very daunting to work with, as you don't want to cover all of that beautiful pattern (after all, that's what you're paying for, isn't it?), and it can get rather unbalanced if you aren't careful. All in all, though, I'm very pleased with how this page turned out in the end. Very simple, but very pretty. Journalling is the words from the Tim McGraw song "My Little Girl". (If you have a little girl, this song'll make you cry every time!!!)
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Bethany

Last one for the day!

2008-01-20T21:01:00.000-08:00

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the Bohemia line from My Minds Eye....it makes LO's just SO easy...this is the bohemia paper, with a bohemia transperancy...the rub-ons are from MAMBI and EK Success....the journalling is as follows:

Okay, I admit it...I'm just a teensy bit jealous of my sister in law! She is so beautiful, I think most women would be at least a little bit jealous. Mostly, though, I'm jealous because she has really made the decisioin to go after what she wants. She is truly chasing her dream. And that really takes guts. Now, don't get me wrong...I have no regrets! But once in awhile, I wonder...what might my dream have looked like?

On more, just because it's been so long!

2008-01-20T20:56:00.001-08:00

Again, the photo of the layout didn't come out true to colour, but again, you get the idea! The pink and brown papers are chocolate chalet by Cloud Nine....gorgeous paper! And have a textured, embossed feel to them...very nice. Those beautiful felt flowers are from a secret sister in a recent SS Swap...she was the best SS I've ever had, bar none! And of coure, the baby is mine....she's such a cutie!! She's outgrown her cabbage patch kid faze at this point, but is still the prettiest baby out there!!!

Bethany

It's been awhile!

2008-01-20T20:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I switched to a new laptop, leaving all of photo's on my former computer!

But, here I am, back again!

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Here is a wonderful LO of my husband with our daughter...the photo's are a little old.

..I believe she was about four months when they were taken, but I created the LO just recently. The journalling strips say

Watching you love her

Makes me believe in magic.

I believe in the magic of fatherhood.

The magic of playtime.

The magic of childhood.

The magic of absolute trust.

The magic of your devotion to her.

The magic of a gift from God.

The magic of transformation.

It makes my heart glad.

The background paper and the vellum the journalling is on are both sparkly, as is the ribbon slide, and of course the gems set all around the title. I just wish the colours had come out truer, but, you get the idea!!

I've been a bad blogger!

2007-12-05T10:09:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted! Sorry to the friends and family that are watching this space for Kennedy updates!
And, bad news, no photo just yet! I'm working from my new laptop, on which i have not yet uploaded any photo's!
I will get a couple of current pics up of her tonight!
In the meantime, here is a little insight into our life at the moment....

She crawls now!
Okay, she doesn't really crawl, but she might as well! She plants her arms out in front of her, and drags, using her little toes to puch as well. She may not be greased lightning, but she can sure get her little booty around the house when she needs to!
Of course, it figures that she would learn to do this MINUTES after the tree was up and full decorated. So, now cooking goes something like "turn the burner on, move Kennedy away from the tree. Put water in the pot, and the pot on the stove, move Kennedy away from the tree. Salt the water, and get the noodles in, move Kennedy away from the tree. Stir the noodles, rescue Kennedy because she just pulled the (lightweight--I promise) plastic doggy gate down on top of herself, and got scared, stir the noodles, get the tree out of Kennedy's grasp, move her, put the flames out on the stove, get Kennedy away from the tree again...."
Okay, not really, but sometimes it sure feels like it!
And, she's stopped sleeping!
Well, not at night....she's still doing fairly well on that end of things...but she just doesn't like to take naps anymore. I think she's positive that the moment she falls asleep, we pull out all of the really interesting toys and have a party. But, in any event....no naps makes for a very cranky girl in the evenings!
One more point of interest in our lives...Ken just loves nicknames. Has a million of them for every living thing (that doesn't creep him out) in our household. Kennedy is no exception.
To him, she's rarely Kennedy.
DD is the most common.
Some of the others:
beep, sleep-beep, bleep, da beepy, bleepers, rapunzel, blee, and many, many others....how variations on "bleep" became the most common, I have no idea...but oddly enough, they are! And, perhaps more oddly, this is now what I call her as well....when I pick her up at daycare, I find myself saying things like "It's da bleep!" which causes odd and slightly confused looks from her caretakers there, as I'm sure you can imagine.
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Anyway, like I said, just a small window into our current lives!
More to come shortly!
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Stab Binding Journal Directions..........

2007-11-03T20:20:00.000-07:00

Directions for Stab Binding Book

Step 1: Measure and cut your chip-board for the covers. Because you need a hinge, you're going to cut two cover pieces, and two spine pieces. When you paper these, you will leave a small gap between the cover and the spine, and the paper left there will act as a spine, allowing flexibility. It is actually plenty strong, although it doesn't sound like it. I use a good craft knife (Fiskars makes the BEST one) and a steel ruler (Fiskars all the way here, too!) to cut through the heavy chip-board. It usually takes quite a few strokes to get all the way through. (Do you remember the days before paper trimmers, when this is how we cropped our photos?? Yikes!!! hehe

Step 2: Cut your cover paper for the outside of the front cover...I leave a little over an inch around each edge...and apply adhesive to your chip-board. Lay the now sticky chip-board down onto the paper, smooth, and allow to dry. Remember to leave your small strip for a spine.
HINT: Try using fabric for a different look. If you aren't worried about archival quality, wallpaper makes a surprisingly beautiful and sturdy covering.

Step 3: Make a cut into each corner of your cover paper to allow for smoother folding. Apply adhesive to the remaining flaps, and fold over on all four sides. Weight the paper and allow to dry (if neccessary). Repeat all steps for back cover.

Step 4: Choose colour for inside of covers, cut to size, and apply with adhesive. I apply them only to the cover, and not the 'spine' or the 'hinge'. This allows better movement of the hinges. Again, allow to dry until completely set.
HINT: If desired, you can add a tie-shut ribbon by applying it under the plate on the inner cover before gluing everything down.

Step 5: Cut your pages to an exact size. I usually make it about 1/4" narrower and about 1/3: shorter (top to bottom) to ensure nice, neat edges, but I have had everything match up very nicely before. Just be certain that you measure three times, and cut/drill/etc. once!!
=0 ) If you use paper for the pages that have much weight to them, be certain that they are well pre-scored (I forgot to photograph that part!). I always line up the back of the pages with the back of the spine, so I simply measure to where the hinge would be, then score at that point.

Step 6: Line it all up! You can see here what I meant when I said I don't have the pages quite as wide as the boards. You can also, if you look very closely, see where I scored the hinges. (Careful...don't tear the paper while scoring!) In this book, I have alternated pink and yellow pages. There are 30 pages of cardstock in this one. Use two binder clips on the end you will NOT be drilling in order to hold everything in place.

Step 7: You can see the binder clips in this picture. Get our your pencil and a ruler, and measure four equally placed marks. These will be your drill holes.

Step 8: Using the Fiskars craft drill, drill your holes. Some tips for using the craft drill: Drill into wood placed underneath of your object. This allows you to get a nice, clean cut all the way through. ALWAYS use both hands on the drill. This means your project may slip...SO! Grow a third hand! Haha...J/K....I usually use my foot to hold this, but sometimes my husband will help, or sometimes I will place something heavy on top of it. Why can't you use a regular power drill? B/C if you do, the rotation speed on the tip is so fast that you will burn the paper. Literally heard of people starting fires like this!!!! ALWAYS use reverse to back the drill out of the wood, and out of the book...otherwise you risk shredding your holes on exit! You can see a photo of me drilling, and one of the completed project here as well.

Step 9: Time to bind! This is very hard to explain, and I just had to kind of try a few times to get it right. If enough people ask, I'll photograph my next one on the precise sewing order.
You are going to start at any of the holes here. Sew through the hole, and loop around the spine, being sure to leave a several inch tag of ribbon to tie the binding together when finished. So, you have a complete loop around the spine. You should have the needle coming up one side....go straight up to the next hole. Loop around the spine. You will now be on the opposite side. Go up to the next hole (or around the top of the book and down if you're up to there). You're creating an alterating ladder with loops at each hole. When you're looped around all, and have come around the top, you should be able to simply come back through the holes in an opposite pattern, making an even pattern on both sides of the book. When you reach your original hole, tie!!! (Tie tightly...this is the only knot that keeps the binding together!!! I usually add a drop of super glue to hold it better).

Step 10: Complete project! Now it is up to you to decorate as you choose. SOOO many good ideas for this:
1. Send pre-cut pre-decorated pages to family members to have them write favorite recipes, birthday wishes, etc., onto. Have them send them back and bind them.
2. PERFECT for circle journals...everyone makes a pre-sized page, leaves the spine area blank, and sends them to one person to bind for them.
3. Bind post cards from a trip like this. Just 'stab' one end. Journal your thoughts of the places onto the back.
4. Use it as a journal...write in it, record thoughts during a vacation, pre-decorate as an address book, etc.
5. Use it as a mini-scrap-book. Predecorate the pages, or do so first and then bind!
6. I made one in custom colours for my friends wedding. I used handmade paper pages with uneven edges to give it a *really* handcrafted feel and in exactly their wedding colours. A couple of very nice scrapping pens were left with it, a wallet photo sized area marked off on each page, and guests were asked to write their messages to the new couple around the photos. Before the book was bound, various pages were sent around to co-workers, church members, family and friends who were unable to attend the wedding as well. Photo's of the event were put into each page, and they have a very beautiful and unique memory of their wedding. Something that they can quite literally say no-one else has.
The possibilities really are endless.

A few photo's of a finished project.

Have fun!!!!
And, if you think about it, please share photos of your completed project!
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Travel Day 2

2007-10-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

Whew!!
What an exhausting day!!!
A great day, don't get me wrong, but, exhausting all the same!!
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Anyway...we got up late...9am (almost nine hours of sleep...how insane is that!?!?!!)
Got ourselves ready for the day, and headed out to the Minneapolis Science Museum. This is the same museum that I once got to go and do a lock-in when I was about 13, so it was somewhat nostalgic for me!
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They have a triceratops that is the most complete real bone trike in the world, and it is HUGE...their heads really do impress me. DD was truly amazing...it was really something to see her try to grab everything there. She was fascinated by almost everything...talking to it, grabbing it, wiggling at it, etc. She is SUCH a different baby than I remember! And again, we were just SO proud of her all day today...she was so well behaved. When she got tired, she fussed for just a few minutes, and then slept. She's just SO good!!!

Next on the agenda, was St. Paul Cathedral. Talk about awesome and breathtaking. This is another thing that I remember from childhood...and this one still took my breath away just as much as when I was younger. The architecture, the size, the beauty, and the religious aspects of it are just incredible. This is one place that I think modern protestant religion miss the point of 'temples' much of the time. Biblically, a church is 'any place where two or more are gathered in My name.'
And that's true, and wonderful, and the most important thing. However, the bible also frequently speaks of the incredible temples that God finds pleasing. They are built to glorify God. And yes, they are expensive, but you can't tell me that the ones in the bible that God ordered be made for Him were cheap.....
But, I digress!!
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hehe

After the cathedral, we drove around and took in the sites a little bit...so beautiful! But, I'll detail that after we go a little further North, and see the beauty up North.

Then, back to the MOA (Mall of America) and the aquarium in the basement there. That was certainly my favorite part of the trip thus far!
They have a HUGE aquatic tunnel that just goes on and on and on, and it is on a slow moving automatic platform that you can ride through. There are south american cichlids, stuff native to the area, sharks, reef areas, etc. etc. etc. Just beautiful. And we got to see a couple of impressively large sea turtles up close and personal! I was even able to shoot a little bit of video of one that was only a few feet away through the glass. Brings to memory the one I got to touch while scuba diving in Mexico. Talk about a moment that brings you a little closer to God...really. As always, it is increasingly obvious to me that He hardwired me to really appreciate the beauty of his living creations here on the earth.
DD was ENTHRALLED all the way through the tunnel. She loved the fish, the other people, the bubbles, the railing, the lit up information boxes, the whole thing! I think this was her favorite even of the trip so far, too.

Finally, we finished a quick cruise of the mall--we'll come back and go through a little better in the future. We walked through the park, as well, and saw some nifty looking rides--just have to figure out how that one will work. We'll either have to ride alone, or not at all.
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At about 9:30, pretty much completely exhausted, we headed over to a really neat grocery store called Byerly's and picked up some sandwiches for dinner. They were really awesome.

And then, back to the hotel, where I played Pokemon for awhile, and then bed!!!
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And, that was our day!!

Bethany

Vacation Day 1: Travel and top level of MOA

2007-10-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

Wow!
Has it ever been a long long day!
It's only 8:30, and we're already tuckered out!

We got up at about 3:45 this morning, showered, finished packing, and headed out. I have to say that I was very surprised by how many people were on the road this early!

The airport went well--although we were totally unprepared for security! It was a small debacle, but not too bad...
Once through security, we had time to use the restroom, find out gate, get a little iced coffee, and play pokemon for a few minutes.

We got on the plane, and were very lucky--the stewardess had a woman who had three seats to herself switch with us, so that the three of us had three seats. That was really really nice!
And we were SOOOO proud of DD!! She was well behaved, quiet, and friendly. She only fussed a few times, and not for long at any point. She slept for about forty minutes, which was nice, and didn't even get fussy at take-off or landing. Better than the other baby on the flight...poor thing didn't have much fun, and spent pretty much the whole flight crying. I was surprised by how well the sound of the plane covered up the sound of the baby's crying, though.

Once here, we stopped off at super target and picked up a few things, then on the hotel. We got all settled here, and then hopped over to the mall of america.....
So far, we've managed to complete just the top level our of three!
We had a lot of fun!!!

I got to stop off at archivers, and pick up a few odds and ends that I just can't get back home...I only wish that I had more room nd (lots) more money!!! Hehe...it was a lot of fun anyway....I was able to get some new rain dots colours, lots of paper that I can't get anywhere else, the bobunny flex ruler (woo!!), and some great rub-ons. Not a huge haul for what I spent, but all stuff that just isn't available at home.

We also played a round of mini-golf at 'moose mountain' in the mall...a great view of the park in the middle, and a lot of fun. Very cute decorating, and a un, not overly challenging course. Of course, the final score really doesn't count, as we just had lots of fun restarting the holes several times until we got the shots we wanted. DD slept the whole time, until the very end...she would have kept sleeping, except that we woke her near the end in order to get some super cute photo's.

We ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. which was very yummy! We had a nice view of the middle of the park, and the amusement rides.

Then for driving around for an hour, trying to find an ATM so that we could get out some money for pizza...finally found one...only to arrive back at the hotel and discover one at the desk. When we finally did order one, we discovered we could charge it to the room! Ack! Oh well...we got to see a kinda neat area of the country we wouldn't otherwise have seen. The pizza was yummy...thin crust, and we just ate it all slob like on the bed, with all of our junk spread all over the place....fun fun fun!! The kinda thing you really only get to do on vacation!

DD got to swim for the first time, and splashed and splashed and had a blast! Up until, that is, she got too cold. Then Daddy took her back up the the room while I finished up my swim...swam a dozen or so lengths. (Work off some of the soon-to-be-eaten pizza!) I then got lost trying to get back to the room. *sigh*...I'm so hopeless!!
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Last thing for the night for our little DD was a comfy kicked back sleep in her crib...she was just so tuckered out after all the fun events of the day! And that's only the beginning for her, even!

We shall see what tomorrow brings!

PS: A few photo's will follow when I get a cable to connect my camera!! (I forgot it at home....)

Whatta Cutie Pie!!!

2007-10-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

Isn't she a doll!?!?
We spent the day yesterday at the Texas State Fair. All in all, I've got to say that every year we go, it gets a little less interesting.
I couldn't find the chicken barn, which was rather disspointing! I just love looking at all the crazy poultry...the HUGE turkeys, the chickens with all the crazy feathering, the big dangly things (under their chin...duh!), the crests, and etc. But, when we got into the pig barn, it was CRAZY! and we decided that trying to navigate girlies stroller around was just way too difficult.
It seems like there are less of the sales pavillions, and less interesting stuff in them each time too. Although, I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I no longer am in need of everything it takes to build a household! I also no longer have any cupboard space left for it!!!

Anyway, we spent the day doing all kinds of great things...we checked out the "baseball as america" exhibit in the little museum that's at the fair...it was pretty cool, but really little. The best part about that was afterward, when we got to go and check out the little 'dig your own dinosaurs' sandbox there. And check out the photo we got! She is SOOO cute!
There were several other gorgeous little photo's of her first experience with sand...watch for them on a layout!

We also took her into the butterfly garden, where she actually was able to see those beautiful little colourful things.

We checked out the cows (which she slept through) and her Daddy and I had some yummy corny dogs (I'm not normally a corn dog fan, but these were GOOD!)
We got a couple miles of walking in, and all in all had a really nice and enjoyable day!
Here are a few more photo's from the day.........

It's been awhile

2007-09-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

Since I actually completed anything!
But, I realize that I have very few of my pages up, so, I'll go ahead and post something old...now just to find something new, borrowed, and blue!
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Here is a sweet photo of my husband and my little girl taking a nap together. The bear is paper pieced with little black glass pieces for a nose, and a bow. He came up with the title...perfect for this page!
The background paper is actually two seperate sheets of Mind's Eye sliced up and pieced together to form the stiped background, and the mat is slices of the same two PP's inked and pieced to make a really neat photo mat.
Overall, I'm very happy with this piece! I think this might be the very first (and one of the few) pages that I did in the shabby shick style!!!
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Monster Challenge

2007-09-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, here are a few more photo's....hope these help!
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Wow, has life been moving fast, lately!

2007-09-26T14:58:00.000-07:00

I've not had a whole lot of time to sit and craft. I guess I could be doing that right now, instead of blogging, but, well...putting things down here is nice, I think!
I do love how convenient it is to post photos now...I vaguely remmber the days when we had to take a photo, wait until the whole roll was used up, wait a few days while the photo's were printed, scan them, and then, finally, wait for the SLLOOOOOWWW process of the dial-up upload.
Now, I plug in my camera, and five minutes later, I'm posting it on my blog!
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That being said, I got a new pet!
It's totally awesome, and I can't wait to show it to the kids on Safari Sunday at my church!

Check him out:

He TOTALLY creeps me out, but I still think he's very cool! I handle him only using my loooooong foam tipped tweezers (same ones I use to feed my snakes while keeping my hands out of harms reach) and will likely NEVER touch him directly. But, despite the creep factor, I do think he's very cool.

And now...off to be laundry woman again!!
hehe
(I thought I had a lot of laundry BEFORE baby!!!)

Six little babies!

2007-09-25T18:46:00.000-07:00

Yay!
My short tailed opossum has babies!
Now, what's very cool about this is that she is a marsupial, so the young are born in an extremely dependant state-like a kangaroo.
The big difference with the STO, however, is that they are a POUCHLESS marsupial! Meaning that I can easily see and watch the developtment of these little cuties!
They are born about the size of a grain of rice, and will be about the size of a very small rat when fully grown. Currently they are about as big as the nail on my pinky finger. I finally got a photo...Mom doesn't really appreciate me exposing the babies, so I have to be careful, and very quick!
Anyway, here's the one very cute little photo of the little ones that I managed to get!

Life is so amazing...God really did give us such a wondrous variety of types of life. All around us are so many different methods of living, different forms and appearance of life. Such a beautiful world surrounds us. Every time I open my eyes and look around, I find new examples of how much God loves us. In every feather, every scale, every cephalothorax, leaf, blade of grass, and cloud, I see reaffirmation of the love that the creator has for us. Why else would He have made all of this for us. Why else would He have created so much around us with such beauty? The only real answer is taht He wanted us to be interested, to have something to explore, to live in, to create with.....Thank you, God, for all that is around us!

Oh, and, I just gotta post this photo of be-bop girlie girl!
On Kens birthday, we stuck one of the bows on little girls head, and the result was this most adorable photo!

AHHH!! It's a MONSTER! Challenge

2007-09-19T22:01:00.001-07:00

Okay, here it is...I will be running this contest until October 31st....

PLEASE read ALL the rules before you post!
Rule #1: DO NOT post the identity of the creature in the comments! Please post that you have guessed it, and EMAIL me the identity at trinkapuppy@yahoo.com -- if someone posts what it is, it will ruin the guessing part!!

Now, I'll explain the challenge, and then give the rest of the rules!
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Challenge is to make a "Monster" layout. This can be halloween, it can be about someone's temper tantrums, it can be about how much your kid likes monster movies, it can be about how your spouse is a monster in the mornings, or a crazy animal at the zoo....whatever....the only catch is that it must contain a monster...it can be in the title, journaling, or an image.....

Have fun with this, and be creative!!

The second (mini) challenge is: Identify my monster...the one pictured in this post. Do so ONLY THROUGH AN EMAIL to trinkapuppy@yahoo.com and just leave a comment that you've ID'd it. I'll send some small blog candy (3 yards of fiber, 2 yards of satin ribbon, 2 yards of grosgrain ribbon) to the first five people to correctly identify the species and gender of it. An extra little something if you can tell me the very obvious fact about why it looks like it's albino...I'll post when all the blog candy is gone.

Again, EMAIL ONLY!!

I'll post a photo tomorrow of the prize, and edit this line out of the post...I've run out of time for the evening!

Rule #2: Deadline is October 31st, unless I decide it needs to go longer.

Rule #3: Any type of project is acceptable...card, layout, altered art...just so long's it's scrapping or stamping related.

Rule #4: Be certain to give me a link of your posted work, so that I can grab it for this! If you don't do this, I won't be able to consider your work.
Rule #5: Original artwork, please...nothing that's been entered in fifteen other contests!

Rule #6: Have fun! And, be original and creative!

I wanted to do something a little dun, so, here it is! Happy Scrappin'!
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Bethany

If you haven't joined....

2007-09-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

http://www.fiskateers.com/ is a really great website...it's one of the most 'feel good', least gossipy sites I've been too...lots of RAK's, and great GREAT monthly swaps...a small community that means that, although the mssg boards move slowly, people actually see what you post...it doesn't just get bumped down as soon as it's posted. So, people actually get to see what you've posted, and have an opportunity to post.

I'm proud to be a Fiskateer, and very proud to have gotten my scissors--oh--did I mention the scissors? You get a free limited editions pair of fiskars scissors engraved with your very own personal ID scissors...see my pics?!

AWESOME!!!

But, don't just join for the scissors! The board has lots of opportunities for free prizes, fun, and some really nice, genuinely warm women there.....

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Just my 2 cents!

2007-09-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

I just love the way this page came out. These flowers are pricey--but SO beautiful! They can add a really feminine and pretty touch to a page. They do tend to be a little hard to use, as they take up just so much room on a page, but they are often worth it to scrap.

As of yet, I am still a 'showcase' scrapper...one or two photos per page. I'm sure that'll change as I get more and more photo's to scrap, but not just yet! For now, I'll continue the one or two photo scrapping.

As for the journaling....

Three PM on Sunday afternoon

Church is over

Front door is locked

Entire family in their pajama's

Relaxing, spending time together

And above all...taking a nap with my DD.....

My Favorite!

And it really is...there is nothing more special than laying with/sleeping with my beautiful little girl! She is just precious!

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Easter Best

2007-09-07T20:02:00.000-07:00

This is from the August club scrap.

The only things that weren't from that kit are the journalling stamp, and the flower and butterfly stamps I cut out for embellishment.

I absolutely love the way that this LO came out--it's our own little cabbage patch kid!!!
hehe

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The nice thing about scrapping with kits is that everything is pre-colour coordinated, which, i have to say, is probably the most complicated thing about scrapping. One of these days, I'll pick up a good quality scrappers colour wheel.

Isn't our girlie beautiful!?!!

Her and Daddy were playing earlier today, and she was just a laughin' away! Her laughter is perhaps the most beautiful sound in the whole world...every bit of laughter from her, makes me break out into rib aching laughter. She can truly brighten my day, even when I am having a rough one!

She is just so precious, and perfect! I wish she could stay this age forever!

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2007-09-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

This is the 'print directly onto your 12x12 LO trick'. It somewhat limits design options, as you have to have a straight line of embellishment stretching from one side to the other in order to cover where you cut the 12x12 sheet down, but it is a really nifty effect.

I played with text boxes and text direction and shading to make a wide variety of texts, directions, shapes, sizes, and colours. I think it came out beautifully, although a few of the words didn't photograph well at all.

The photo corners (Heidi Swapp), flowers (Prima?), and epoxy brad in the middle of the flowers (Making Memories), are from my secret sister on the fiskateers website--THANK YOU, SECRET SISTER--they're beautiful!!!

This is the first proffessional photo of our DD. A group came in, and did photos. Then, using the best scam ever, they send home a sheet of wallets, and 8x10, and 2 4x6's, and say "$10/sheet, return what you don't want!" Well, gee, who's going to look at a darling little face like that, and then NOT purchase the set!?!?? Like I said...great little scam!
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Anyway, I'm a total sucker for beautiful photo's (the more to scrap her with!), so we of course, bought all of these.

I think it's adorable, though...if you look closely at this photo, you can see her eyebrows all wrinkled up, and pink...she was totally crying just before they took this shot! Although a casual observer likely wouldn't notice...Mommys and Daddys see something like that instantly!!!
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Buddies

2007-09-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

When Ken's Grandma--Kennedy's great grandma was here recently, we all went down to the Fort Worth Historic Stockyards. Ken and I had never bothered before, because we didn't really think it would be anything particularly worthwhile.

We were wrong--it was a TON of fun!!

I still have to scrap most of it, as I tend to put off theme trips that will take up multiple pages. This is the first one to be scrapped from it, however...it is DD and Daddy playing on the little mechanical horse. Just CUTE little photo's!
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I have matching ones of me and her that I'll scrap the next time. The paper came from a contest that I won on http://www.fiskateers.com, and the title (little stainless steel 'buddies' charm) came from another that I won from a blog challenge at http://www.inkysmiles.blogspot.com.

It's so much fun to be able to participate in these challenges. Swaps are also lots of fun!

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2007-09-03T18:26:00.000-07:00

Here is the finalized page. I really love the way that this came together. The colours are beautiful.

Journaling:

"Ken and I were so happy that you guys came so soon after Kennedy arrived. It was really nice to have two extra sets of arms to juggle the baby, and so nice to have help around the house. You were also both so polite...you didn't try to monopolize time with her, and totally respected our need to bond.

And the best thing of all was the deep love you both had for immediately. I loved watching both of you fall head over heels the first moment you laid eyes on her."

Oops! I've been a bad blogger!!!

2007-09-03T18:10:00.000-07:00

I have been working hard on layouts, mommy'ing, and life! I'm excited to say, though, that although I've been absent from my posting, I have several beautiful new LO's to post, and will be getting them up over the next several days.

Today, I will post this one...here are a few shots of some of the details on it. This is the first time I've stitched on a LO (I'm too lazy most of the time!)
I used the beautiful "Timeless Touches Fiber Friend" template for the stitching. It's beautiful, and I'm considering making a template or two of my own!

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I also got some new stamps...I was a little skeptical of them, but, aren't they beautiful?

Christmas Tag

2007-08-08T21:55:00.001-07:00

I completed this Christmas tag for a challenge...y'know, I've been making tags for my pages for ages...and for some reason, I just never thought to myself..."I think I'll use one of these for a gift tag".....

How strange!

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Anyway, I used a paperclip for a moon, and I used little yellow raindots for the stars...LUV the way they came out! The trees are diecuts from four years ago, so I have no idea where they're from! And the tie is a random fiber I got from a pack on ebay. The tab at the top is a heidi grace one, and I punched a hole through it to string the fiber....

All in all, it is a simple tag, and won't win anything, I'm sure, but I was really happy w/ how it came out!!!

Spring Jewels

2007-08-07T20:57:00.001-07:00

Each year, the new life of the flowers all around is enough to take ones breath away. I just adore the beautiful colours and the unusual shapes that they come in. The zoo is a great place to find photos of all kinds of unusual flowers.

On a scrappers note; don't you just LOVE the new raindots? I would like to have two or three packs of every size, shape, and colour, I think...I just adore how easy they are to use, and how versatile. You'll notice them in the centers of my flowers, here, and all over a lot of my other pages, as well. I just finished a really cute tag that I'll post tomorrow, using raindots as stars!

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The prima flowers are also beautiful, although pricey. When I first started adding flowers to my pages, I couldn't imagine paying the extra for prima vs. just taking apart silks...now I understand. The look is just SO much nicer! Not that I don't still use silks on occasion, I just prefer the mulberry flowers.

The rub-ons (Spring Jewels and line of flowers on the metal) are bo-bunny. These go on like silk compared to the cheaper brands! Note the metal embellishment at the bottom; this is actually a left-over piece from putting together a piece of ikea furniture (oops??....). I simply added a rub-on, and I think it turned out beautifully.

People can be so ugly sometimes

2007-08-03T22:19:00.000-07:00

I work in customer service, and I have for years.
It NEVER ceases to amaze me exactly how ugle people can be to each other. Or how manipulative, how sleezy, or hw uncaring about the damage they can do to another person, or a business.
I have had a cat food cans thrown at my head, bags of fish thrown down onto the bagging cart, big bags of cat food spiked at the ground and burst open, water poured over my head, arguments made due to the fact that I wouldn't reurn all the money for, as an example, someone trying to return a dog harness of which all they had left was the metal O ring (their dog had eaten the rest), people yell at my associates meanly enough to make them cry, and that's barely the tip of the iceberg.

I've had the first official complaint about my customer service skills in my new job, and it was unfair, and uncalled for. She complained that I was very slow--which I was--it was the first time I'd ever scheduled anyone, but to be fair to me, I very politely explained that I was still very new to it, and that I could do it, but I would be a little slow. Otherwise, she was welcome to wait for the person who does the scheduling, or we could call her back....
That was just one of the many unfair things that she complained about, and all of them were similarly unfair.
I didn't get in trouble for it...but I certainly could have!
Oh well!!

Just complaining!

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Bethany

She's Finally Sleeping!

2007-07-31T21:08:00.000-07:00

Normally, Kennedy is in bed and asleep by about 9:30. Tonight, however, she hung on until close to 11:00pm! Oh well, no big loss...I'm sure that this'll mean I get to sleep in a little bit on my day off tomorrow!

Anyway, I figured that I'd take the few minutes I have here before bed to post another layout...this one was for another challenge. No title, just journalling, and only one line at that. I used a quote. Some basic grey rub-ons on the picture, the baby feet run-ons are from the stickabilities line by hobby lobby. Paper is minds eye. CS is bazzil bling, and 1 stip of sating ribbon.

I promise the LO is straighter than it looks here...I'm still having some trouble getting everything perfectly straight!

Someone asked me today..."what's it like being a Mom?" I stopped and thought about it for a moment...the question kinda came out of no-where from a woman who is five months pregnant with her first baby, and was looking for a new Mom's perspective.....
I really couldn't come up with any great, earth shattering observations for her, but, I did find a few thoughts....it's an amazing experience. No question! I am SO proud of her when she does as simple as reach out and grab a toy...I can only imagine how proud of her I'm going to be when she walks, or when she starts talking, or finishes reading her first novel, graduate high school...it's all rather a daunting thought! She is also going back to work...probably when the baby is two months old. I told her that the most amazing part of my day is when I come back after being gone for the day. Although she has fun at daycare, and although she's a well behaved baby who only cries on occasion, and has been dubbed 'easiest baby ever' by daycare staff, she still loves me way more! That's obvious by the HUGE ear to ear grin I get, and the excited little grunts as I pick her up. I love her, and she loves me...she really is the most amazing thing that has ever, EVER happened in my entire life!

Anyway, just wanted to share a few random thoughts from my day!
Now, I'm off to bed!!!

G'night!

Before You...

2007-07-26T21:26:00.000-07:00

I love challenges....

I mean, I LOVE challenges! I really do create better with a specific goal in mind, a lot of times, and a challenge lets me get over any blocks I have going.

I just completed a layout for Noel Mignon's Cunjunction Challenge (http://noelmignonchallenge.blogspot.com/). I really never would have come up with this title, or this journalling without a push, but I am glad I put it down on paper, as it is true. Although there are a few little things I have given up, and several big ones, they were nothing in comparison with the special bond I have with my wonderful little girl!
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I finally scrapped my accident...

2007-07-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

When I was 36 weeks pregnant, I had a major, life altering car accident. It terrified me, and taught me to appreciate God, and my pregnancy, and ultimately, my child, so much more than I had been before that.

It was hard to scrap, because I wanted to be certain that the story took center stage, and that it was an appropriate layout...not too frilly or fancy. I think I succeeded with an extremely simple page, with lots of story telling.

Here is the text:

At 36 weeks pregnant, I was on my way in to work at 6:40am on Saturday morning. I went about my morning drive as usual, until the merge from 35W to 35E. As I accelerated up the on-ramp, preparing to merge in to oncoming traffic, my car shuddered hard, and the wheel pulled hard right in my hands. Ice, I learned later…a tiny little patch of black ice on a day when there was virtually no ice anywhere. But for the moment, all I knew was that I had a split second to react…if I didn’t correct, I would go off a small embankment, and probably roll down a steep grass hill. I pulled the car hard to the left, knowing that I had already lost control. In that moment, I know that God sent an angel to sit down in the car with me. Time slowed as my car started to spin across the highway. I spun across what should have been two lanes of oncoming traffic, and miraculously, the road that is always busy was empty. Somehow, at fifty five miles an hour, with only a few meters to go, time slowed down enough that the following thoughts ran, in order, through my head: 1. Pull the wheel a little more left so you don’t hit that concrete barrier head on. 2. Tuck your seatbelt under your very pregnant belly. 3. Arms to your side, off the wheel, and relax. I followed all three quiet commands, and the next memory is no more than a couple of eye blinks. A concrete barrier and an empty highway. A much closer concrete barrier. A shudder. And then I was stopped. Immediately, I assessed my situation-I was in a car that smelled very strongly of chemical…something, and it looked like smoke in front of me. Although I was later to learn this was the chemicals from the airbag, at the moment, I thought it was possibly fire. I turned off my car-the keys stuck in the ignition, so I left them there, and bailed out as quickly as possible. As I stood on the side of the road, I began to cry. Here I was, 36 weeks
pregnant, and I had just hit a concrete barrier at 55 miles per hour. I took stock, realized I didn’t have a cell phone, and my glasses were lost. It took eight minutes and countless cars passing me before the first person stopped to help me, and I admit to losing composure in that time-screaming for help, crying, and finally just hitting my knees beside my car, and praying. At last, people started to show up-a nurse stopped, first, and calmed me, and took my vitals. She also let me use her cell phone to call my husband (mine had shot across the car and ended up in the back seat on the passenger’s side during the accident). I was unintelligible, and he realized that something was terribly wrong, and simply began driving the route I took to work. Then a cop showed up, a fire truck, and finally, just as they were loading me on to the ambulance, my husband-never had I been so glad to see anyone! And in all this time, my constant fear-my baby hadn’t moved. I was an emotional wreck, and time was moving too slow. Why didn’t anyone understand that I wanted-no-*needed* to get to the hospital, and hear her heartbeat?! When my husband finally got there, I knew he’d understand! And, at last, I was underway…praying every second of the trip. My husband followed in his car, and got Pastor Jerry and Karyn up out of bed and on the way. And at last, at *long* last, we were at the hospital. They strapped the fetal monitor to my stomach, and tears of joy were uncontainable, for both my husband and myself, as that steady little heartbeat began. Thank you God! They kept me overnight for observation-better safe than sorry! Although all that was wrong with me was a banged knee (I still have a bit of a bruise there, almost five months later). But all the things that should have been there after an impact of that magnitude, just weren’t. I never even touched the airbag, and normally that leaves burns on your face, a broken nose, and black eyes. No seatbelt bruise or even potentially broken collar bone. No whiplash or other similar neck or back injuries. Nothing. When the cop arrived on scene, he walked up to me and the nurse, and asked where the person from the accident was. When I said it was me, he looked at me in disbelief-could hardly fathom that I had simply stepped out of the car. The people at the wrecking yard were astonished that I walked away without a scratch, and the insurance agent who evaluated the car afterward was equally impressed with my lack of injury. I have a BIG GOD who loves me, protects me, and heals me. I have a BIG GOD who knows that my daughter is destined to do great things for His kingdom, and my God wasn’t about to let a simple little car accident get in the way of those plans! Thank you, God, for all that you have done! Thank you for my life, and for the life of my child.

I've Finally Gone and Done it!

2007-07-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

Well, at long last!
I've been thinking "well, I have my personal blog, and, I'm just not sure that everyone I know wants to read about my scrapbooking. Most of them come to read about my daughter."
But, then I started posting some challenge and contest stuff into my blog, and some of my favorite layouts, as well.
The larger quantity of

All said and done, I have finally decided, IT IS TIME!
And so, I begin my scrapping and etc. blog.

Who knows...maybe I will even find someone in the immediate area to crop with, at some point!
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Now that would really be something!

My husband came up with the title...I thought it was cute! It is not intended, in any way, to be offensive...just fun, and funny!

Bethany