Break Over!

So sorry, I meant to post something last week, but, I got lazy and took a break. Actually, I wasn't lazy, just very busy. We hosted Thanksgiving here, and although my dh did almost all the work, I was soooo very tired. I really can't wait to be done with this chemo and be "normal" again. It was nice to do nothing after Thanksgiving, tho. We got some movies on Friday and just watched them all day.

I made the matching place cards for Thanksgiving. They matched the candle ring things I had made earlier. They're not fancy, but they did the job:


And, it snowed on Friday:


It all melted by mid afternoon.

Saturday we celebrated Matt's birthday with his dad and stepmom. We had Chinese food, and I ate spicy tuna sushi, totally forgetting that I'm not supposed to eat raw or undercooked meats while on chemo... (oops). I meant to only eat the cali rolls, but OMGosh that was good spicy tuna!

I made these babies last night... Christmas ATC's Tim Holtz style:


I first used clear embossing powder on the white swirls. Then I sprayed some blue and a bit of orange mist onto wax paper and then smeared the card into it. Then I stamped the deer and put black embossing powder on him. Then I stamped the ornaments onto the deer antlers and used silver embossing powder on those. The stamps are all Basic Grey from a few years back. It was a messy project, but fun to do.

I got some great mail goodies last week that I'll share with you later. Haven't had a chance to take pictures yet.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.... and if you're not from the US, hope you had a great weekend. :)

Not So Happy Cookies

If you are from around the Pittsburgh area, you might have heard of Eat n' Park restaurants... they are famous for their Smiley cookies. Our local supermarket has their own take on this cookie. However, I found myself kind of depressed after eating them...



Ummm, someone get these cookies a Prozac, pronto!

Actually, they made me giggle. While they were in the packaging the label covered up their ambivalent faces, so I didn't notice. Maybe they were made by a disgruntled baker.



I did a bit of crafting this past weekend. I was inspired by Lisa Dorsey's napkin holders to make these candle rings. I mostly used scraps and old stuff to dress up these very inexpensive candle holders.



Here's a little close up:


I started on some matching place cards, but haven't finished them up yet. I think I need to clean first seeing that I'm having guests over for turkey day. It's soooo hard to clean. I need a maid. I'm not just bellyaching, I just get super tired with my chemo treatments. However, I am so very grateful that I have a husband that does help me cook, clean and take care of the kids. He's such a great father and husband. Despite everything, I'm a lucky girl. I'm so very thankful to have the best hubby in the world this Thanksgiving. He loves me no matter what, even now, when I look like one of those hairless cats!

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? I'm sure if you think about it, you have plenty to be thankful for.

God bless you, and have a most happy Thanksgiving.

Sacred Paper

The other day, I had to ask myself... do I dare use the “sacred paper”?

You know what I’m talking about... you buy it, you hoard it, you pull it out to use, but your photos aren’t worthy, so you put it away. Well, stop doing that!! Just use it. Your photos are worthy, they’re memories, right?

I have loved, loved, loved this Cosmo Cricket paper from day one. I had a heck of a time trying to find it. My dear hubby bought me some for my birthday in September (after I found it on eBay), and finally, two months later I cut into it!

My photos aren’t perfect, a bit blurry, and my son is cut off in the one, but, it was a great day, and a great memory, and they looked great with my sacred paper, and that’s all that matters. :)



I love using the little “extra” words that Cosmo puts on their paper. You know, their titles of the paper on the bottom strip that we usually cut off and throw away. They work great as little extra’s on your page:





I’m glad I used my sacred paper. I have plenty left over to do more projects. If you have some sacred paper laying around, go ahead use it!

Have a scrappy weekend!

A Little Behind...

on blogging. I wanted to post this yesterday, but the day got away from me.

On Sunday Emma and I went to Art Tech's open house. They are my local scrapbook store, but they also sale lots of art supplies and stamps... tons and tons of stamps. I was looking for an ATC stamp, but they didn't have one. I managed to buy some stuff anyway. I got some of the new Basic Grey Christmas line Eskimo Kisses. I've been seeing so many cute projects with that paper.

Here are some cards we made at the open house... these were so fun and easy to make. Don't ya just love make and takes? Everything is cut for you... love that. We used the Ranger alcohol inks on vellum, then we punched out leaves from it. It's so cute! And they embossed the words using Coordinates cardstock. That was my first time using it. Loved that too.

Here are the cards:


Here's a close up of the leaves, it was a Marvey punch, that punched and embossed:


I was so excited to do those, because I needed to make cards for my mother-in-law and sister-n-law... got to check that off of my list. I was going to add a button at the top, but then I thought, nah, I need to mail these, so I just kept them flat.

I have an entire set of Dr. Martin's dyes from back in art school... they're just like the alcohol inks... but I just never think to get them out and use them.



On a sad note... last Friday, we had our little pug dog Louie put to sleep... that is such a strange term. We felt it was time. He was 15 years old, and couldn't get around very well, having accidents 9 out of 10 times... it's really sad to see your pet get old and frail. He lived a really happy good life. It's hard to remember how spunky he used to be. I found a couple of old photos of him, one is when we first brought him home. He was so small, and his face was so black! What a cutie.

Here is Louie as a baby... he's on the blanket with his big brother Oskar, our first pug.


And, here's Louie in his hey day, all healthy and chubby. Little bit of gray on his muzzle, he was about 10. Baby Sophie is in the background, she used to be little!


RIP, little Louie, we will miss you.

Why I Stole This Blog Award! and a Layout...

Andrea gave me the Honest Scrap Award the other day, but I already had one, so if you care to read that, go here.

Rather than do that award again, I stole the other award from Andrea's blog. Actually, I'm just taking the questions... which there are 35 of them. I thought I'd answer them for ya! Cause I'm bored! ha

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Your hair? gone

3. Your mother? missed
4. Your father? at home
5. Your favorite food? steak
6. Your dream last night? weird
7. Your favorite drink? coffee
8. Your dream/goal? health
9. What room are you in? office
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? death
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? alive
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something that you aren't? pushy
15. Muffins? blueberry
16. Wish list item? vacation
17. Where did you grow up? Pennsylvania
18. Last thing you did? Parent/teacher conference
19. What are you wearing? jeans and a sweater
20. Your TV? Off
21. Your Pets? 3 dogs & a cat
22. Friends? lots
23. Your life? happy
24. Your mood? good
25. Missing Someone? yes
26. vehicle? Hyundai
27. Something you're not wearing? necklace
28. Your favorite store? Pottery Barn
29. Your favorite color? Red, for today ;)
30. When was the last time you laughed? yesterday
31. Last time you cried? today, sort of, I'm very emotional lately
32. Your best friend? Carol
33. One place that I go to over and over? bathroom! ha
34. Facebook? yep

35. Favorite place to eat? my deck

So, I stole a blog award to fill up some space on my blog... but I actually didn't steal the award, just the questions. :D



Here's a layout I did the other day. It's a fun layout using some Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday, or Saturday... ;)



and a close up:


I used the bottom part of the paper that said "But wait, there's more" to show that it's double sided paper. I thought it was cute to add it to the layout with the arrow pointing at the second photo:


Oh, I figured out where the spot is coming from on my pictures. It's coming from my camera. I put each lens on and took a photo and the spot was on both. I guess I'll be taking it in for a cleaning. I hope it doesn't take long. I'll really miss my camera if it has to go away. {sniff}

That's it for now. Take care and have a great day!!

Finally... Something to Share

I finally got my scrap on! These photos are from 2007. My sister in-law and nephew from Virginia came up to Pennsylvania for a visit, and we went to Idlewild Park. I think Uncle Bob had to stay home and work.

I used some October Afternoon paper for this layout:


And, a couple of closeups:


Those splashes are Fiskars, and turned kind of greenish when I put them on the yellow paper, but I still think they're cool.



I don't know if you can tell, but my camera, my Nikon DSLR is putting a grayish spot on my photos... you can see it in the top layout, right above the tilted photo, it looks like a grease spot. I just tried to clean my lens, so we'll see if that helps. I even tried to clean the mirror on the inside, but didn't want to screw it up, so I just did a quick wipe to get the dust off. I'm so beyond mad. I hope I was able to clean it. I mean, I want to upgrade my camera eventually, but, I was hoping to wait another year. THEN, I was cleaning my other lens, my 55-200, and it has this weird line thing going on. I know I can fix all this in Photoshop, but that's not the point... I think I might have gotten an inferior lens. I wonder if I take my 55-200 to Ritz camera if the guy there could help me... any suggestions? I wanted to keep these lenses and upgrade the body, now it seems like my lenses are crap.

Well, other than that, I've been taking it easy. Still fighting this stupid sinus infection. I went to the doctors on Saturday and got another antibiotic, but she also gave me some Nasonex and told me to also get some Mucinex. So, I did that and it seems to be helping. So frustrating to have a sinus infection for a month. I realize my immune system is low, but this is ridiculous! If this doesn't work, I have to go to an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. UGH.

That's it for today. Have a great day!!

Meeting a Scrappy Friend and a Digi

Today I'm going to meet a sweet scrappy friend for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Her name is Kim aka Destiny1 and we met on the All Moments Remembered board. She lives pretty close to me, on the other side of Pittsburgh, so we're going to meet in the middle. Should be super fun. I've got some scrappy goodies to cheer her up. I'm going to take my camera and hopefully get some shots. Gotta make sure that battery is charged up!

Yesterday, I did a digi Christmas layout. It was fun to do digi for a change. I pulled some photos from last Christmas and whipped it together.



I used the November Page Maps sketch. 95% of the product came from Crystal Wilkerson's Vintage Candy Cane kit sold here.

Doing that layout really made me excited for Christmas!! But, we gotta do Thanksgiving first, which I love.

So, do you brine your turkey? We've been brining our turkey's for the last 5 years, and it makes a world of difference. They seem to brown better AND they are so super juicy. Mmmm... now I want turkey! We're doing Thanksgiving here and the in-laws are coming over. My MIL was worried that I'd be tired, but really, I enjoy cooking. Like I said the other day, I was bored so I made the carrot cake, which turned out sooo super yummy!! I took a photo for you!



I'm sorry the photo is a bit dark, but gese, it gets so dark now with the time change!! This cake is soooo super moist. I put raisins in it rather than nuts because my son is allergic to nuts. Yum, yum!

Well, I'm off to get ready for my lunch date. I know it's early, but I'm afraid the traffic into Pittsburgh will be horrific, as it usually is.

Have a great day!!

Smells Like Carrot Cake...

in my house...much better than teen spirit, don't cha think?

I just made a delicious homemade from scratch carrot cake! Mmmm, can't wait to ice it with cream cheese icing and dig in. Besides scrapping, I love to cook and bake. Cleaning... not so much, although I do that nesting thing once a month, ifyouknowwhatImean. ;) Although I do like a clean house. Thank goodness my hubby likes to use the vacuum and he sweeps. It's nice to have help.

This past weekend, I finished up my "pimped" bra for the Serendipity Scrapbooks Pimp Your Bra Contest. Finished just in time, too. I didn't add the photos yet because I made it about my breast cancer journey, and I'm only about a 1/3 of the way thru my journey. My good friend Michelle gave me a great suggestion about it because I kept saying I wish I could fast forward to May, when I'll be all done... she said think of it as a pregnancy and that I'm done with my first trimester. What a great idea... so, only 2 more trimesters to go. Well, plus a week or two.

I titled it "Fight Like A Girl". Each back is painted black where I thought I could journal with a white pen.

Here is the cover:



Page 1:



Page 2:


Page 3:



And, the last page:



Well, that's it for me today. I think I'm going to make a Joanne's run and get me some yarn! Gotta knit myself a hat for my little bald pea head. Can't wear that wig all the time, and this little chemo sleeping cap I have has no substance, so I look like a pea head. I have a tiny head. I always knew I had a small head because I can fit into childrens helmets! LOL! I'm not a knitter, but I have loom! Hopefully, when I get done I'll share the photo with ya.

Have a great Monday! Take Care!