Oh, here it is! December Daily Update

Hello!

I was just about to create a post whining about all the technical difficulties I'm having -- on such an energetic week -- and then I found the ever-beautiful cord that would allow me to upload my pictures. Thank. You. St. Anthony!

The past few days have been pretty busy. Even today, which I thought would be so calm and boring, seemed to be frenetic. It's been a cleaning day. I'm nowhere near done, but I am proud of how much I accomplished so far.

On with the show?


On Sunday night, I promised my son we'd make gingerbread men afterschool on Monday. True to my word, we broke out the kit, mixed up the odd recipe....and learned that whoever thought THAT was a recipe for gingerbread men was NOT having a sane day. Luckily, I got him to nap while I came up with plan B -- the gingerbread train I'd stashed away two weeks ago. Everything was already baked, all we had to do was assemble. Yay!


Yesterday, we had lunch with my brother; then decorated his tree. Naturally, my son was all over this task!



Today, like I said, was cleaning day. I was thrilled that I recovered (as in found the top of AGAIN) the sofa table. Since it's also an uber-storage piece, I covered it with a bed sheet to help make spirits bright. I'm wondering how long a) this table will stay pretty; and b) my son will leave alone the nesting dolls. The nutcracker is all his -- a gift from my dad -- as is the frog. But he just lost the tiniest nesting doll -- about the size of a Wonka Nerd -- and I'm not looking to loose more.

Thanks for looking! I know how busy everyone is this time of year. Even I feel like I've only just begun and there are only 18 days left to celebrate!... Okay, did that read "strange" to anyone else?

December Daily Update and a Card

Good Monday Morning!

Okay, am I really the only person on the planet who truly loves Mondays? I swear, it's my most optimistic and productive day. I think it's the fresh start. Case in point, I'm on my fourth load of laundry at 10 AM; snapped pics of my December Daily album (this time with actual events!); and got over myself long enough to make a thank you card. I feel pretty cool right about now.

On with the show? Alrighty then!

Again, the papers and embellies are a mix between Crate Paper, G45, DCWV stacks and K&Co stacks.


Boy, did I get lucky by making the first pages of the album holiday-neutral! We got our first snow of the season a couple nights before I could "officially" start this album. I was lucky enough to be healthy and take him out to play on December 1st. This child has been waiting for Winter since Halloween.

I know, not a lot going on here. It was a crazy busy day; including an hour drive to Detroit to essentially become delivery person for my own scan history. We seem to be at the point that we're focusing on one area and trying to remove the cancer from that area. Aside from all that, my parents and I hit up the local Barnes & Noble to participate in a school fundraiser. Someone is getting a metric ton of new books for Christmas! My parents couldn't wait on this book, however. It's become his new favorite... Like read-it-every-30-minutes favorite.

It's at this point that I remember to point out that the number cards were a free download (E-Cuts), offered on scrapbook.com. Aside from that, someday I WILL get a good photo of this child smiling and NOT wincing from the flash. Poor lil guy!


Again, a pretty basic design. I'm happy that I created a pocket, though. I decided to use the back of the flyer as the journaling spot. I had that much to say. This child was first in line to sit on Santa's lap this year. I wasn't close enough to overhear the conversation, but they both seemed satisfied at the end.


Annnnd the tree! Second in anticipation, to Winter, was decorating the tree. We actually started on the third, but more-or-less finished it up yesterday. Would it surprise anyone to know the bottom three feet of the tree is an ornament festival?! I'm pretty proud of him; they're actually further back on the branches this year. Normally, he just barely put them on.

I decided to make a thank you card today. My son attends a Catholic school and the eighth graders find ways to earn "service hours" during the year, in preparation for Confirmation. This group did an amazing job and I wanted to let them know they were appreciated. The inspiration for this one came from the Crate Paper blog.... And it's been so long since I've made a link, I'm curious to see if that works.

Aaannnnnnd, I've got a table to clean off, lunch to make and a whole lotta lotta to get back to. Thanks for taking the time to read and look. I really do appreciate it.

Doing the December Daily

Good Tuesday Morning! How close to "ready" are you for the rest of this week? Tomorrow is going to be crazy-busy for me; what with my son's school celebration. I get to make and bring sweet potoatoes to the bash... How many four year olds do you think will try them?

Anyway, I've also been a bit crafty this month. I decided that I NEEDED to participate in the December Daily, ala Ali Edwards. I needed the distraction in November to create the album. I need the distraction of "finding the happy" in December, as I'll continue receiving chemo until further notice. Yeah, I NEED the happy! I thought I'd share a few pics of what I've created so far. You'll see that the pages are still really basic. Since I don't know how I'll approach photo arrangement yet, I didn't want to go crazy with embellishments.... except the cover. I'ma go crazy with the cover as time ticks on...

So...


I LOVE to play with paint, chipboard and die cuts. The base is actually that really thin chipboard that supports paper in a package; painted red. On top is a Technique Tuesday tile, painted silver, adorned with Prima e-line crystals. The "25" was cut with the help of the Cricut cartridge, Winter Wonderland. The remaining chipboard pieces are from Crate Paper's Peppermint line. I fully intend to add more and have a go at making a collage, but I want to make it relevant to the events, so I'm waiting.


I'm impatient! I wanted to start having Christmas fun now, so I added a piece of paper to the inside of the cover (Pink Paislee) and brain-stormed a list of activities to fill the month. You know, just in case I find a day with nothing to do. The right side was the beginning of my theme, "The Night Before Christmas." My goal is to have a strip on each page inside.




One of the pieces of G45 that I bought last year. I'm pretty sure this day will be Breakfast with Santa, so I made a pocket on the right for any extras I'd want to include.



Another pocket here, though I have no set plans for that date. I need to get over myself and make some tags for journaling, I think. The polka dot background is more G44, Playtimes Past. I about squealed when I found this at Hobby Lobby. The moment was squashed when my four-year-old declared the whole paper section "lame."


G45 Playtimes Past, some kraft paper for journaling....


A mix-mash of the G45 and K&Co paper, plus the story at the bottom....


Flip side of the K&Co and back to the Peppermint line. I gotta say, I'm happy that this has a good dose of "masculine" to it. My son is really feeling his boyish ways. Who wants to bet at some point, he'll see this album and wonder why I haven't put any skulls or cross bones in it?

There's more, but I think I got the idea of my album across. My next goal is to post completed pages every week or two; trying to keep some sort of frest content and purpose here. I hesitated to try this because I've never completed a mini album and I thought sure I just couldn't figure it out. These are fun! I want to try making more; some even girly!

Surprisingly Still Kicking!

Good Tuesday evening! Guess who's still alive and kicking?! Did you miss me? Did you forget who I was and why I'm appearning on your dashboard?

I miss blogging, too. It's the norm, now, that I have a set number of down days and a whole lotta up days; though I am still fighting cancer. I feel like I want to share tons of pictures and a few crafty moments; but I also want to give you an idea of what I've been doing for the past couple/few months.

In August, I went wig shopping. I call her Molly. She is beautiful, though likely ready for her first bath. I didn't know, prior to my appointment, that she requires special shampoo.... and that I need to keep her from heat. Molly is high maintenance.

At the end of August, on the same day that my son started Junior Kindergarten, I was informed that the national drug shortage had hit home and I wouldn't be receiving part of my chemo until further notice. They also changed my routine and I hated it. By the end of September, I was back on track.

In addition to just dealing the chemo; I've been trying to participate in my son's class activities as much as possible.

I've made quickie cards for his teachers.

There was a school-wide reading day.

I tried to do the field trip to the pumpkin patch, but just wasn't healthy enough. Luckily, my Dad took my place and I'd already paid for Gramma Camera to go as well. I still have photos and a page prepped for the album.

My son has been testing social boundaries, so I've spent as much healthy time as possible just sitting on him. Momma WILL NOT raise a bully.

Halloween was a lot of fun. Yesterday was one of my healthiest days in each cycle so I helped out with the in-class party then finished the day with an hour of trick-or-treating with a pygmie zombie.

Also, after watching his teacher organize and practice for the class' turn at all-school-mass, I've decided she needs one heck of a thank-you at Christmas time. I've started working on a few special gift tags for the upcoming season.

I've had many appointment with my oncologist. My cancer marker -- the number that basically says "how much" I've got continues to drop. When this started in April, I was at 22. As of a couple weeks ago, I'm at 0.9. I have yet another scan in a couple weeks to see what the inside scoop is; and I'm really hoping for continued good news. While I may be settled into a routine, and find a level of comfort in knowing what to expect, I'm mentally done with this nonsense and wanting to move on with life.

That's all I can think to share right now. Once I'm up out of bed, I'll work on taking pics of layouts and the like. They've become quite basic again, but I'm claiming a victory that I'm doing anything at all.

So this is the land of the living!

Hello! Hi! Howareya?

I am...preeeeetttyy dang dong good right now. It occurred to me, while I was fussy cutting a bajillion little images from the new DCWV Fall stack, that I hadn't shared much of anything on my blog in a while. Then, it occurred to me that I was kinda okay with that. I've had so much I want to say, but moving in several different directions. I just couldn't do it! I couldn't sit down and focus to blog.

Ack!

So.... I think I can do it now.

First up, THANK YOU!!!!!! I really do appreciate that people continue to take the time to read what I post, even when they are now so few and far between. When I read that someone has me in their prayers, it gives me a little more energy and desire to tackle whatever it is I'm supposed to be doing in that moment. You lift me up, and I really appreciate it. Thank you!

Since I'm kind of dancing around "that subject," I've had more good news with the cancer. The number that determines "how much" I have continues to drop. Right now, it's 1.2, which is super cool BUT I've also been informed that we're getting to the point where the sensitivity and calibration of the machines making these numbers is having to split hairs...and then split them again...and again... The number itself might waver up and down at this point BUT as long as it stays below 2 (or 2.5, I can't recall), we're good. Personally, I want that bugger at negative 64, but I get what they're saying. ALSO, even better, the last scan showed that everything is still shrinking. Some are now even the size of pin heads. Zis is good, yah! So, woohoo, I'm still getting better.

Now, the flip side of being sooooo close to being done is that I've realized something. Actually, I've realized a few things.

*For the past few months, I'd kinda sorta stopped living. It was in shades and shadows that I wouldn't recognize until now. The biggest one coming at me now is being a girl... or woman. Feminine and embracing all that I loved about being feminine before.

In April, I started chemo with an orientation class where I was informed of side effects to expect. That was all good and well, but I process all of it as -- I may never drink a luke warm or cold beverage again. I may always feel cold and/or pain from touching cold things. I may never go to another movie (which my husband and I LOVE to do often) because there will never be an acceptable drink; the air conditioning will always torment me; the dark/bright contrast of lighting and screen and the boom of the speakers may be too much for me. My husband and I may never "date" again. I may never leave the house again.

In May or June, I started reacting horribly to Pepcid, which started a chain reaction to metal. No more jewelry! That led to no more make up (just in case) and even no more skin care. Yeah... two or three months of no face washing. Awesome, huh? And if I'm not going to adorn myself, or take care of me, why should I wear anything cute either?....Can you feel the Debbie Downer?

In this month, I kinda had enough. I've had enough of being Debbie Downer. I've had enough of not liking what I see in the mirror. I've had enough of not fighting me for the sake of me. I've also had enough of my chemo routine, but I will soldier through that for another 12 weeks because I've realized something else.

*Fuck it all, if I ain't still alive!

Hair Today

Good Tuesday Morning! How does this day find you? I'm starting to get some energy back; which is a very good thing. My little boy has his first day of Pre School in exactly three weeks. He has a school supply list! I'm not yet done crossing things off and any day I can summon the drive to pick up four rolls of paper towels will be greatly valued.... I could babble about all that for a while, so I won't. Instead, I'll share a sketch and a page with you. After being encouraged a few times by friends and family, I've started creating my version of a book about my time fighting cancer. Of course, the only way I could get myself to do any real writing was to create a visual aid to go with it. Ergo, I'm compiling an album that will include LOTS of journaling tucked behind the pages. One of the first pages I've made is based on this sketch:



It can be found on the blog for Sweet Peach Crop Shop -- along with loads of other fun ideas. Here is my take on the sketch:


One of the first pages I've made for my album is about my hair. I've purposely left the photos behind because I am going through a vain and highly non-photogenic phase.... Like when the moon is in the seventh house and all you want to do is eat chocolate and maybe clean your house twenty times... Yeah, that kind of phase. There is journaling in the frame, but I used a silver pen that came with the SPCS kit so it's hard to see here.

Some close ups?


This chipboard butterfly is also in the SPCS kit. I soaked the top layer in Glimmer mist, added three bits of bling to the body (also kit) and painted the bottom piece PLUS a layer of Rock Candy.



The stamps are from a RAK I received from a challenge at Bella's Creation. I was giddy to finally have a page to use them on. So rarely do I create a feminine page and these little fellas have been BEGGING to be used for so long.

Okay, I could still babble on and on, but I won't. It should be a busy day with a nap sprinkled here and there. Thanks for stopping by and having a look-see! I hope to be able to share even more, soon.

Bella Creations Tiny Dancer Tag

Good Thursday Morning! I thought I'd pop in quickly to put something pretty in this space. Many of you know already that I have a special love for the site, Bella Creations. It's such a rich source of inspiration for any kind of crafting you enjoy. If you haven't heard of them yet, I encourage you to check them out!

In the month of July, they've had loads of amazing challenges. I'm still working on some, but I'm pretty pleased with the tag I created, thanks to the Oh La La group.


The image of the weary ballerina is courtesy of Gecko Galz Scrapbooking -- loads of stunning digital images! At first, I found myself wondering why she was so tired; perhaps she danced just a little too much that evening. Perhaps she's been burning the candle at both ends, like so many Super Women on this rock. This sounds like a few of my closest friends.

Over the course of a few days, I thought about this image and my friends. Eventually, my thoughts lighted on a song by Cage the Elephant. It seemed a perfect fit; especially since one of my candle-burning friends has been telling me for fifteen years, "I'll sleep when I'm dead." This lead me to insert a piece inside the tag; just for her.


Below, I found the song on You Tube. If you like your music punky, I encourage you to click and enjoy for a few.

....It could be argued that this is a darker take on the challenge. I think I'd agree. I've been in a dark/funny/fighter frame of mind for a while now. It keeps me going.

The I Wanna's

Good Friday Afternoon! How is July treating all of you? Truthfully, it's treating me alright. We've had loads of sunshine and opportunities to explore outside.

I celebrated another birthday -- the big 3-5! I gotta say it was fairly well awesome. I got my wine and cheesecake. I made a page about it. It's gorgeous. I just have to find the will to photograph it to share. Until then, you can know....


For the sake of credit, I found this image thanks to this site here. It seems to be the top of my list of I Wanna's.

I wanna....

be crafty again. Before I got sick, I was able to whip out at least one, if not two, crafty items a day AND play with my son AND have a nice dinner on the table in the evening AND have at least one housekeeping item accomplished. It's the crafting I miss most. It's my creative and emotional outlet. It's my opportunity to learn and grow.

consistently create pieces that make other people say, "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!" I want to make amazing cutesy kiddie pieces, vintage Victorian pieces, all out Rock N Roll pieces.

be focused and start in on an awesome card for my son's Pre-School Teacher. I'd also like to make a beginning-of-the-school year gift for her. I want to let her know she's appreciated from the beginning, because, well... I've met my son. I know what he's capable of -- amazing and dastardly.

participate in my son's upcoming education. I want to be "one of those mom's" who offers up the healthy snacks when it's her turn; comes to all the little events; is able to help the teacher in any manner necessary during the year. I think this is also because I'm realizng that I wanna...

still do all that fun teachery stuff myself. I used to teach; first through fourth grades. I got a wild hair this morning with my son to see if he understood WHY four was the "biggest" number (out of 1, 4, and 3) when prompted by Team Umi Zoomi. He couldn't tell me why he knew; just that he knew so I drew him to the table with the lure of chocolate goldfish, markers and paper. Once he caught on (like after the first attempt) that each number has a value attached to it, he was all good to go. It felt good to empower him with those details. It felt right. It felt like I wanted to do it again, but with more children.... just not a full classroom... nor a full night's worth of grading papers so I CAN'T spend time with my son.

I wanna have the best of all my worlds -- motherhood, career, crafting, being healthy and staying alive.

I wanna get back into a routine of cardio and strength training. It's clear I'm going to be fighting cancer long enough that being skinny but squishy is not going to be "okay" much longer.

I wanna be assured that this beautiful hazelnut coffee with caramel praline creamer AND two cookies are not going to strike back later. It's been a rough post-chemo week for me physically. It's been two weeks since I've really been able to feel like I've done something fulfilling with my time. I think that's why I just got all wiggy and started to create this rambling post.

That, and it's been long enough that I should point out I'm still alive. At the very least, I've got a starting point to create some objectives and plans for myself. I'm going to love the next six weeks of Summer and try to make the most of them. But I'm also already looking forward to Fall, and my son starting a new adventure of his own. It's been my survival mechanism -- looking forward -- to get through all the nonsense I'm dealing with right now.

Trikathon

Good Monday Morning! How was your weekend? How's your tea? How's your coffee? Ready to take on the world? I think my son is, but the jury's still out on me. Is it just me, or is 5:30 AM too early to be yelled for? I thought so. Anyway, I'm up and I have something to share. I've started to take an interest in a few new (to me) sketch sites. This one from Sassy Lil Sketches seemed to fit perfectly for a series of photos I had printed out for a different sketch. I still like the other and want to use it soon, but this spoke stronger to me this weekend:



And this is what I made:



The daycare/pre-school my son attends hosts an annual trikathon to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network. It is so stinking cute to see 50 kids on bikes and trikes, plus a dozen infants in multi-seat strollers gather together and try to take off all too son. They've been doing this for 20 years, but it was a brand new experience for my son. He's had that trike for a couple years, but used it all of three or four times. It squeaks horribly and loses it's fun factor fast. You may notice that he's too big for it now, but there was no time to get him a new bike. I was proud of him for ignoring all that and lapping the school three times before abandoning the trike in the crowd.... instead walking around the school with one of his favorite teachers.

Part of the design was also inspired by the Friday challenge at Frosted Designs -- use only one color plus black and white. It was something I'd been kicking around for a few pages, so how could I pass up the opportunity to finally give it a go?


This was my first focus on keeping the limey green shade going. Rather than actual stitches, I broke out the Stickles and doodled them on.



I REALLY wanted to use this tricycle embellie (Crate Paper, Toy Box), but the red they used wasn't going to cut it for the Frosted Designs challenge. Ergo, more Stickles!


Sorry for the blur! Since I had my Toy Box goodies out, I perused my options and found this sticker. I decided to fold it up like a ribbon.

And that is all I have for now. I'm a lot less grumpy and my son needs a playmate for a little while. Again, thank you for stopping by!

Always Time to Snuggle

Good Saturday Morning! .... Okay, even as I type that I'd like to make myself go back to bed (it's 6:15 AM!), but I won't. It's a big day and I have lots to do. One of those things is share an adorable moment between my son and my father. It happened on Father's Day; just a simple desire to snuggle; and is based on the current sketch at Twisted Sketches:



And here is my take:



Adorabibble, right? I've seen so many amazing pages, created by Nancy, based on these sketches, that I finally decided to give it a try. Of course, as I was creating, I also wondered how I could try to include fun and unexpected details, like she does. I tried to be like Nancy.... Until I finally remembered that I'm NOT Nancy and went back to having fun with it. I LOVE looking at pages that are chock full of detail -- so full you could actually spend a half hour looking at the page, in order to find it all. I LIKE making pages that have at least a thick border of negative space and a single cluster of embellishment. It feels like a pair of properly fitting jeans to me, but I keep forgetting that.

Details?

I used Glimmer Mist (Dragonfly) to mask some Dusty Attic gears.

Tim Holtz clock face and spinner. My son actually had fun with this element when I finally let him near it. Evidently, he also really likes my glue dots. Super!

This gear clock is Scrap FX. Initially, I slathered it with Distress Ink, then the Dragonfly Glimmer Mist. If you get to look at the actual page, it really changes color nicely as you move it around. Not so obvious with the camera, though.


I wanted to highlight the "four" on the clock, since it's the age of my son at the time of these photos. I probably should have chosen a brighter shade of Stickles.

This is what I have today. Now, it's time to get spiffy for company and a highly anticipated shopping trip with my son.

High Class

Good Tuesday Afternoon! I wanted to create a quick post of a page I made over the past few days. It was inspired by this week's palette at The Color Room:




I thought it was a hard one. I know I didn't nail it, but this selection DID finally get me to scrap a photo I've been hanging onto for a couple years:


This is my son; a little over two years old. Like the journaling says, I don't know WHERE his pants got to, but I do remember thinking one thing as soon as I saw him sitting there. This would make a perfect photo to share with his prom date 16 years down the road! Yeah, I aspire to be that kind of mom.

The goodies used are mixed from a few companies. I often try to use just one collection on my pages that it was a personal challenge for me to find mish-mashed pieces to use together. It was kinda fun!

The red paper is from a Fall stack by DCWV.

The die cut car (that I managed to cover up while playing with other stuff) is a piece of grunge paper, cut out with a background car shape on the Cricut cartridge, Summer In Paris. It was a total fluke that I created weeks ago. I was trying to cut out car shapes my son might like to use on his Father's Day card, but was wrong about exactly which direction would be four inches. I was hoping it would be bumper-to-bumper, but it was roof-to-floor. Waste not, want not!...

The pinwheel, title spot, plane and fire truck are from the Crate Paper collection, Toy Box. I had to start rooting through my son's toy stash to find them, too! He's starting to swipe my goodies.

The pop bottle is from Cosmo Cricket's collection, Boyfriend.

The journal spot and bingo card are part of a collection by Memory Makers, 100 Days of Summer.

Like, I said, quick post. I didn't opt for close ups because I didn't do any great technique work here. My main goal was to distract myself for a little while. Mission accomplished. Now to see how my son reacts 16 years from now....

Sandbox

Happy Sunday! By a feet of sheer will, I have kept my son entertained and I have another page to share. This one was inspired by this week's challenge at The Color Room:



And this is what I created:


I have to admit, this WAS a challenge for me. I was excited to try a monochromatic palette that I'd hardly ever think to try on my own. I have plent of orange items in my stash to make this work.... but did I do it right? LOL My biggest challenge was remembering to have fun! Seriously, I need to spend more time playing with my son. He gets this whole "have fun before worrying about the rules" thing better than I do.


The chipboard circle is another of the Technique Tuesday tiles. At first, I had it coated with Glimmer Mist; and I liked it.... Then, the patterned paper behind it started bugging my eyes, so I decided to just paint the inside of the circle solid orange....I'm a sloppy painter...I'm also grateful for Distressed Stickles (Orange Peel, I think). After it dried, I noticed how it kinda complimented the sandbox/gritty theme in the photos. Yay!


Woohoo for having just a few orange gems in my Prima E Line stash! And I thought I'd never use this particular pack.


I happened upon some festival ride tickets that went unused last year. They made for some easy journal spots today. I struggled with the decision of where to put a title on this page. I was too lazy to create alphas. I didn't have enough orange or white ones in my stash. Why not just write it over and over again along the border? Well, I thought I was clever. I think these are the last of my orange flowers. Lucky me, huh? I wonder of Prima has made any more....

I do believe this is all I have for now. If I have uncompleted pages hanging around, I can't find them. Thank you for taking the time to read. Have a good week!

Hello, Handsome!

And hello, again! If for no other reason, these extra off weeks sure have been productive for me. I wandered around the blogosphere more than I've been able to do for the past couple months. When I took a moment to stop in at Sketches In Thyme, I noticed something special. They now design their own sketches for use. How awesome is that? How fun does this sketch look?



I like the cute colors, and it seems I've had a thing for the simplicity of circles lately:


One of the many things I love about my husband is his smile. He has a couple of them, at least. Normally, his loved ones get the cheesy grin that follows a remark showing off his smart-mouthed charm. When you actually try to get him to smile for a photograph, it will look like he's under duress. And sometimes.... Sometimes if you look fast enough and have been blessed, you'll see him really smile. He has one of those "light up the room and twenty feet around you" smiles when it's real like that. There's a sparkle in his eyes. There's honesty and hope. It's as hard to capture that smile with a camera as getting a butterfly to stay put for the same reason. I know it's hard to see all of that in this photo, with his sunglasses on, but I know that was the kind of smile I got in that moment.



I don't know if it was the act of watching Elizabeth Town while pondering this page...or hormones because, I did bawl (and wish for a very special road map all my own)... or just simply noticing I do A LOT of blue/green pages lately... but I felt compelled to keep this page as green as possible. The chipboard circle (Technique Tuesday) is coated generously in Distress Ink and Distress Stickles. I like how the Stickles somehow lubricates the ink to truely go every where because there were spots that were still white before adding the the pretty sparkles.



The bingo card behind the photo is from Tattered Angels. I've hung onto it for quite some time and swore I was going to use it. Well, it took over a year, but tada! The original title on the card is Family, but I had wanted a more accurate title. Luckily, I recalled a few sheets of Scrabble tiles I had printed (and found on the blog of Scrapperlicious). It was a bit bigger than the card, but I like it. Above my husband's head is his age. I decided to coat it with glossy accents and frame it with some more of the Distressed Stickles.

OH! Speaking of Scrapperlicious (and all the cool things that can be found on her blog), she is celebrating her millionth hit this month. Click on this link to see how she's chosen to celebrate!

Hmm, I guess I'm feeling a little tired, but good....And, I'm wondering what my little boy is up to right about now. Thanks for stopping by! One more project I'm working on, some cards that are looking kinda cute, too! Think I'll get a chance to share?

Some Days....

Good Saturday Morning! How does this day find you? We're kinda gloomy, and I think I'm the only one missing the days of 90 degree heat, but otherwise all is well. So many parties and festivities and weekend wishes going on. Normally, I'd be freaking out, trying to figure out how to fit them all in with some level of quality time at each. Now, I'm often sleepy enough that it's much easier to chill and take life as it comes. Because somedays...

Heh, how's that for a segue? I didn't have chemo this week (and will babble about that at the bottom) so I spent some time paper crafting. One of the pages I made was about a fun moment between my son and my brother:


My husband and I have been protective parents. My brother has been waiting for the moment he'd be allowed to rough house with my son to the point of turning him upside down. This photo makes me smile and laugh a little so I had to give it some love! It was inspired by sketch 159 at Creative Scrappers:


Pretty, huh?


I used Basic Grey alphas, part of the Oliver collection. Then, I felt playful so I coated them with Glossy accents. It's hard to see, isn't it?


I tried to use the Sew Easy again. It was a little better this time, but I'm not in love with the tool. It works best on single sheets of paper. I like to layer THEN stitch. Also, I'm pretty proud of the inking work; being stumped as to how to ink in such tight quarters on this jagged piece. Then, I figured out that all I had to do was bend the paper to get two edges at once. I felt smart for a moment.



Dusty Attic chipboard gears. I just love adding gears and skulls'n'crossbones to my projects. I REALLY want to find someone from which I can buy more! The woman who sold me these is on a temporary leave from her shop, so...


So, I have to get creative! I went rooting through Cricut cartridges at my disposal. It turns out one of them has a gear border. It's one of the cake cartridges -- can't recall the name right now -- and it occured to me to cut out the border then cut the border up. I think I'm falling in love with kraft paper, by the way!

And, unrelated to this post, I was delayed another week in my chemo. It was frustrating and I almost cried. That was mainly because I was in limbo on the results of a recent CAT scan and blood work. For all I knew, two extra weeks off of chemo was really hurting my body, but....

Yesterday, I met with my oncologist. My tumors are shrinking and my cancer marker (like, how much cancer I have) dropped from 9 to 4.5. Those are definitely steps in the right direction! He was also encouraged (and it was encouraging to me) that I've gained about seven pounds since we last met a couple weeks ago. He told me that all three of these are very good signs, because I would NOT be gaining weight if the cancer was hanging on.

Somedays!

Thanks for stopping by. I have another page and some links I would love to share today or tomorrow. Here's hoping those get done....and I REALLY get chemo next Tuesday.