Surgery Eve & a layout

Well, my surgery is scheduled for tomorrow.... I am to be at the hospital at 10 am. I'm pretty calm about it, and in a way excited to get this thing out of me. I just talked to a friend who had a double mastectomy 2 weeks ago, and she feels great. I hope mine goes as well. I'm just doing the bad boob right now.

Anyway... I did a couple layouts last weekend, and I have another one to share with you. This one was also for a challenge on Serendipity Scrapbooks.



I was going to journal around the paper block but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Here's a couple close ups:


I put some glossy accents on the flowers to look like rain drops, just for the heck of it!



We had to use 4 rub ons for the challenge... now I know why I don't use rub ons too often! Can you say pita?? LOL!

That's about it for today. I hope to blog next week. I'm only in the hospital one night after surgery, then I get to go home... which is fine with me because it's hard to sleep in the hospital, so noisy and people waking you up and pokin' ya in the middle of the night.... geez!

Have a great Easter if you're celebrating. Enjoy your family this weekend.

Scrappy Goodness!!

Happy Monday!

I know, how can I be this chipper on a Monday? Crazy, huh?

BECAUSE - - I got my scrap on this weekend! Nothing like some scrappy therapy!

This is my favorite layout that I did. It's just one of those layouts where everything worked out, the design, the colors, the elements... makes me happy.

The banner is from Martha Stewart that I picked up at Big Lots. It worked out perfect. I did this layout for a crop that was going on at Serendipity Scrapbooks. I order from them, and I love their board. The girls are so nice.

Here's the crop blinkie, all the challenges related to the Food Network, which I happen to be addicted to!


And, my layout for the menu challenge, 5 ingredient fix:


A couple of close ups:




Journaling (it's funny):

Whoa! Holy marshmallows Batman!
A little hot cocoa with the marshmallows?

Hope you have a happy Monday!! Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate it!!

Wild for Washi!

The Japanese Washi tapes, that is. Have you seen them? They're very cool.

You can find them on Etsy. I really like this tape from PrettyTape on Etsy.


My friend Joscie sent me these:


And, check out what I did with the Washi tape!

First, I used some tape to decorate up a plain envelope that I made. (see last post for envelope template)


Here, I made a tag for spring. You can layer Washi tape, it's semi transparent, which can make for some cool effects. I used the MM Slice to cut out the froggies.



And lastly, I made an Easter egg. I put the Washi tape over some plain paper, then used my Making Memories Slice to cut out an egg shape (I used the Spring design card). I added some bling from Creative Charms to finish it off. I could see a bunch of these on a branch in a vase for a center piece.


Family Circle used Washi tape to decorate either hard cooked eggs or blown eggs. Here's the link. I was afraid to post the photo, didn't want to infringe on any photo rights.

Use Washi tape to decorate plain vases, as shown on To Be Charmed.

AND, check out Happy Tape, lots of ideas there. You will be hooked!!

Have a great weekend! Happy crafting!

Envelope Freebie

How about an envelope freebie? Not just a template, but a file that you can use with SCAL or Design studio.

This is an A2 Envelope file. It fits on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. A2 envelopes fit cards that measure 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. The A2, once folded, measures 4 3/8 x 5 3/4.

I've got a mini tutorial on how to fold after you've cut.

Here's what it will look like once you cut it out.




Then, I just took my ruler and lined it up on the inner corners to fold. As shown:


After it's all scored:


And, the final envelope. I just used a glue stick.


What the template looks like:


If you want a jpeg file, click on the template above and you should go to photobucket where you can download it.

Here's the PNG file for download.

Here's the SVG file for download.

That's it for today. Enjoy!!

Hippity Hoppity....

Easter’s on it’s way...

2 Peas is having it’s first scraplift challenge for a chance to win a $20 gift card, so I thought I’d play along.

Here’s the link.

My take on the layout... I whipped this out pretty quick this morning.



In order to qualify for the $20 GC, you must use all 2 Peas digi stuff.

Wanted to update on my situation... I'm having surgery on April 1. Kinda messes with Easter, but at this point, I just want it done, so I didn't want to delay it. I should be OK by Sunday. Matt is a great cook, and always does the ham anyway. I'll just need to prepare some stuff a bit on the early side, so I'll do that in the next 2 weeks, you know, kids baskets, clean, stuff like that. I'm having what they call a radical mastectomy. That just means that they take lymph nodes out, too.

Because of all that has happened to me, we are radically changing are diet. The kids will be the hardest to convert, so I’ll need to do it slowly. We’re going to eat way healthier. I found a list of cancer fighting foods, some that have actually been proven to reduce cancer tumors... top of the list - broccoli and all the foods in that family which include kale, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.

This morning for breakfast, I had this awesome smoothie. It was delicious. I seriously can drink this everyday, no problem. I’m not a big breakfast eater, so this is right up my alley.

Isn’t it pretty??



Raspberries & blackberries were tops on the list for fighting cancer. This is a strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and blueberry smoothie made with soy milk. I also have a banana and some honey in there. Sooo yummy. I used all frozen berries and kept them frozen, so it was like a milkshake!

Oh, I must not forget green tea. 2 cups a day, steep for 8-10 minutes. Luckily, I like all the foods on the list, except sweet potatoes.

Have a super weekend!

Hope your weather is as nice as mine. Sunny and 70°!!!

Testing, testing....

Yesterday I had a bunch of tests to see how the chemo worked. It took up the whole day. I had a mammogram, (twice! they wanted better pictures!) sonogram, MRI with the contrast dye, then I had a physical, blood work up and an EKG for pre-op. I was supposed to get a chest X-ray, but I guess the doctor didn't deem it necessary. It's probably mostly for the older patients.

On Friday I met my radiologist, who was very nice, but scared the dickens out of me! I guess he just doesn't sugar coat anything. He's also used to working with the geriatric crowd, lol, and said that I'm his youngest patient.

I think my tests went well, I didn't notice any panic or concerned looks on their faces while they did the mammogram and sonogram. Scary stuff. I hope it's all OK.

Anyway... I managed to do a digi... I came across these cute pictures I took when my kiddos were only 3 and 5... {sigh} ~ I miss those days, when they were little.

I used a bunch of different digi stuff on this. I downloaded the new freebie from Peppermint Creative, but the only things I used were the dark brown background paper and the lucky bingo card. What's cool about digi is that I had one bingo card, but in about 2 seconds I could duplicate it and have 2!



Matt's dad had a pace maker put in yesterday. He did really well and we will go visit him tomorrow. We were worried, his dad is 82 years old. Matt is the baby of the family. My dad is only 67. (sorry, I'm rambling)

That's about it. I'm very busy with work (which I should be doing right now!), I got 2 new jobs and I need to finish up one from last week today.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Eureka!

I scrapped! It's been a while, but it sure felt good to get back into it. I'm feeling much better, so that always helps. This by far isn't my favorite layout ever, but I like it, and it got me scrapping.

There's a sketch contest over at Pink Paislee, so I thought what better way to kick start my mojo. I took their sketch and used all their products - aside from the one cut out, it's K&CO, and came up with this layout.

I didn't really feel like scrapping people, so I did simple pleasures.... and mine is making tea. I don't microwave it, I put a kettle on the stove and wait for it to boil. There's something relaxing about doing all that... pouring the water into the kettle, turning on the stove, getting your cup, choosing what kind of tea, waiting for it to brew... granted it only takes 5 minutes, but it's a mini getaway.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love my coffee, but sometimes a light tea is nice with a little cookie in the mid afternoon.



What I do like about this layout is that I tried something different with the rub-ons. The rub-ons are from the Pink Paislee Amber Road collection. The one had tea & coffee on it, so it was perfect. BUT, what I did a little different was I took those little tiny fluer de lis that were in a row, and I put them in a circle around my title circle. It just kinda of pulled everything together.

Here's a close up of the actual tea bag package. I cut it out in a little scalloped edge circle, then pop-dotted it on top of the K&Co shaped tag.



Here's one of the photos that I used. I just loved taking this shot. I was so happy with how it turned out.



I only ate one cookie, by the way! I've lost 4 pounds since last week. The chemo and steroids made me gain weight, so I have 16 or so more pounds to go.

I also had fun shooting this photo today. This is a tiny little scoop from Bath & Body. It only measures about an inch across. I used 3 stacked close-up lenses to shoot it. The sun was shining thru the window and hitting the salt, it looked so pretty... and smelled good, too!



That's about it for today.

Hope you can have a creative day!

Quick Update and Mini Toot!

I'm doing pretty good with my last treatment, pretty much the same as the time before that. Of course, Saturday is my bad day, so I'll be resting up tomorrow. But, other than that, I'm in high spirits knowing that was the last chemo treatment. Woot!!

My hair started to grow back, about 9 weeks ago. It's quite funny, it's about as long as Matt Lauer's from the Today Show! Ha! Sportin' a Sinead O'Conner kind of look. As soon as it's about as long as Jamie Curtis' hair, I think I will go wigless. She's got a better face for it than me, mine is kinda chubby.

Anyhoo ~ yesterday my friend Gloria pointed out that I was featured on the new CK Board. That was a nice surprise! It's actually on the CK Board Blog, click here for link.

I'm the 5th one down! Pretty nice surprise. My friend Joscie is also on there, couple down from me! Go Joscie!!



This was the layout... the photos weren't showing up yesterday on the link, but they are today.





That made my day! Love little surprises... unless it's one left from your little black pug on the carpet in front of the fireplace... not too keen on those kind!

Have a great weekend!! Hope you have some good surprises!!

My Last Chemo Today...& a Layout

Hello! I'm updating this via my iPod , so ignore the typos.

Today is the day! My final chemo for my breast cancer. I'm soooo happy! I know there's still a long road ahead of me ~ surgery and radiation, but at least I'm on that road. In my first cosultation, the "boob" lady at the surgeon's office - Claire (aka- the warm- up act) told me it takes 9 months to have a baby, but a year to get better from bc. I'm half way there!

And, since I don't like to post without a photo or project, here's a quick digi I did. I think I used a 2 peas freebie for this. In May we will celebrtate our 18th Wedding Anniversary! Wow! Here's what I looked like 18 years ago... Try not to laugh at my big hair and spew your tasty morning beverage all over your monitor!



Man, I wish I still weighed 115, or 125... or heck I'll take 130... Or.... Er, um I'll leave it at that.

Have a beautiful day!