Halloween 2009

This year I was blessed to have a

MERMAID and an UNKNOWN PHANTOM (not to be confused with the Grim Reaper - He will correct you)

Sometimes

Makenna came home today and told me that she cried at school today. She was overwhelmed with emotion. Sad that she never met her big brother. She said she just couldn't hold it in any longer.
As with any parent - it hurts me when my children hurt. I want to fix this for her, wave my magic mommy wand and make everything right. Seems there well always be a "empty" spot at our table where he should be sitting.
I miss him everyday but sometimes on days like today it feels as if I have lost him all over again
________________________
related posts
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Bouquets of Freshly Sharpened Pencils

Sneak peek for November's Doubleshot Kit at The Scrap Room

This week I have made three pencil bouquets - one for each of the kids teachers along with a card.

I was playing with my craft supplies all day while watching/listening to You've Got Mail. Seriously one of my favorite movies.

I love watching movies while I scrap - What is your favorite movie

tell me about one you love to watch over and over again.

So Excited!

My "Riverwalk" layout was featured here on craftgossip.com
go check it out :)

12 Year Anniversary

Sunday was our 12th Anniversary ....

We made a cake

Heath bought me a card and flowers and let me take some pictures of him

Makenna bought a stick on mustache from the gumball machine. I had seen one earlier in the week at Tasty Freeze and said I was going to get one and wear that as a halloween costume. We are deciding between Charlie Chaplin style and a classic handle bar ;) good times

ended the day playing Cranium with the kids.

Great Day!

Blog Maintenance

sprucing up around the bloggity blog
now I just need to find a perfect 3 column format and make a new banner.
Hope you like it.
:)

personal updates

Scrolling through my blog and I can't help but notice that I have been posting mostly "crafty" things and not so much personal "schtuff". It seems that this is my life, either I am coasting through with craft projects or there is so much drama that I can't find my mojo. I will say I love how things have been going. Knock on Wood. But in an effort to give you a little peek into my life I will sum it up in a song......just kidding. How about bullet points.

• Going to school full-time. Still working on becoming a Registered Nurse. A&P is really giving me a run for my money.
• Recently became a CNA. Requirement here to enter the Nursing Program.
• My littles are growing faster than the speed of light. Noah is away as I type on his first overnight school trip.....tear
• My husband has helped in ways I never knew he could (starting to think he was only pretending that he couldn't do laundry for all those years).
• Member of the Doubleshot Design Team at The Scrap Room. Love having deadlines and having a reason to make myself scrap. A lot of time my fun scrapping time gets put on the back burner but no longer.
• Last but certainly not least --- PUMPKIN SPICE CREAMER is out finally - the moment I wait for all year long.

Happy Times

Layout - Eastside

Layout of Noah's first day of 4th grade at a new school (it goes with the layout featured here)
Items used are from The Scrap-Room's October Doubleshot kit. I loved the Jillibean Alphabet Soup Paper - perfect for those back to school photos. Additional items that I used were Heidi Swapp chipboard alpha's, acrylic paint, and bazzill cardstock. Hope you enjoy ;)

Card - Thank You

Thank you card using items from my Doubleshot Kit at the SCRAP ROOM
Added Heidi Swapp chipboard alphas
Kraft Cardstock
American Craft Thickers
Jillibean Pattern Paper
Bazzill Cardstock
buttons
ribbon
used my charcoal cat eye ink
Stampin up punch
sewing machine to zig zag
raffia to tie on the buttons

Card - We make a Great Pear

Super Simple Card used items from October's Doubleshot kit at the SCRAP ROOM
Kraft Cardstock
Cosmo Cricket Patterned Paper and Chipboard embellie
American Crafts Thickers
and Making Memories tiny alphas
zig zaged the edge of the patterned paper on my sewing machine
and inked almost everything with a charcoal cat eye

Sneak Peek

This was my Sneak Peek for The Scrap-Room's Double Shot Kit this month

products used were:

TSR's Double Shot kit containing Jillibean pp, bazzill cardstock, American Crafts Junior Buttons, and Coordinating Ribbon

Items added from my stash were:

We R Memory Keepers Eyelets set with my crop-a-dile

bazzill cardstock

large paper clip (rak from my friend shellbowie)

Heidi Swapp Chipboard letters (black and orange)

Making Memories tiny alphas

acrylic paint

I used a toilet paper roll to stamp the circular images on the cardstock

mi casa es su casa

"My house is your house"
So join me on a tour of my scraproom.
We just moved out of state and while I always dread moving, this new house had a perk that my apartment did not have..... A SCRAPROOM. I am still trying to figure things out but all in all I really like how I have things laid out/organized.
This is my main organization unit. I purchased it from Ikea and it was worth every penny. My scraproom is right off of my living room. I think it was supposed to be a sun room. It has a beautiful set of french doors, and once inside the room, to the right is this shelving unit.

In the middle of the room (not pictured) I have a large dining room table, seats 8, that I have raised with bed raisers that I purchased from Walmart. My workspace is now at counter top height. I also have some Rubbermaid storage drawers under the table and plan to "someday" make a skirt for the table to cover all the junk I hide under there.
Here are my buttons. I used to have them in tiny bottles all sorted by color but this works for me and I end up using more random colors. Also hedgie... a gift from my kids.

I store my chipboard letters in these plastic cases. They are sorted by letter. I like to mix and match different letter styles. This way I can just Grab N Go ;) My Clip It Up! Ah, do you feel the love. I simply adore this item. If I could afford it I would have about 10 of these. I love that everything is VISIBLE! I don't know about you gals but if something isn't right in front of my face, I sometimes forget I have it. I keep my dwindling supply of Thickers on the Clip It Up as well as my favorite "go to" embellies.

Okay, you caught me. I admit it. Hello, my name is Shawnna and I have a messy desk. Seriously though I love this "desk". I use the term loosely because it is merely two file cabinets (which I already owned) and I purchased a $50 6ft. counter top from Lowe's. This is on the left side of the room. When you enter the room there are 3 large windows straight ahead, thus the lovely lighting. Sorry for the blown out photo.

I keep my embellishments sorted by color in the same plastic cases as my chipboard letters. I have a ton of these (one for each color plus metals and clear) and I purchased all of them when Hobby Lobby had a 1/2 off sale.

In the two cubbies to the left you can see my kits. I sort them in alphabetical order by the name of the manufacturer, except for Scenic Route Kits, they get their own Cropper Hopper Vertical Paper Holder. I do show favoritism.
I house many of my mini albums in baskets. This allows easy access for my family and visitors.

These owls and sign sit on top of my Ikea Shelving unit. These were all 3 gifts that make me smile every time I see them. It is so important to surround yourself with things that make you happy, things you love.

I keep my paper scraps (both cardstock and patterned paper) stored by color in these 12x12 drawers. This way I can go here first before grabbing a fresh sheet of paper. Reduce Reuse Recycle People. Also my kids know that they can use this paper for their own craft projects.

My paper storage is a little tricky. I couldn't decide on just one way to store so I have a few different categories of storage. First is cardstock, it is stored by color in vertical Cropper Hopper Paper Holders. I used to buy several sheets of every color of Bazzill, now I buy several sheets of only the colors I tend to use over and over. It took a little time to figure this out but it has saved me so much money.

Second is Patterned Paper -- OH HOW I LOVE THEE -- I have Scenic Route in a Cropper Hopper of it's own. I also have paper sorted by theme.... like Halloween/Christmas etc. If a piece of paper doesn't have a set theme then I file it by color unless it is one of my favorite manufacturers then it is filed by name alphabetically. See, I told you it was tricky. I keep my most recent Scrap-Room kits all the way to the right and in the same cubby I have a Cropper Hopper for kit left overs that I use to make cards. Ribbon is stored one of two ways. If it is long enough it is wrapped around a cardboard insert and placed by color in this basket pictured. If it isn't very long I have a large jar (same size as the button jar) that I keep snippets of ribbon in.

I use this Cropper Hopper box to store all my stickers and rub-ons. Most are by theme but I also have a section for each child, I use this area to store things I bought to use in their specific albums (think birthday party themed stickers/embellies).

Last but not least, my cart of drawers. My husband purchased this for me several years ago from Costco when I began outgrowing my wheeled totes. This is stored to the left of my desk, within arms reach, and houses tools, extra adhesive, and stamps. My Clip It Up sits on top of this cart.

So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed peeking inside my scraproom. Please leave links to your scraproom photos in the comment section. I would love to check them out.

Shades of Summer

This summer, shortly after our move, I was able to participate in Liz Kartchner's SHADES OF SUMMER. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to see the completed project with bits and pieces of everyone. So go check it out. My photo is in the second grouping and is on the top far right corner :)

Designing for TSR

This month was my first month Designing for the Doubleshots Kits at TSR. Getting the kit in the mail was a euphoric high. Nothing like opening your front door to a box of scrapping goodies. You can click here to see the entire Coffee House of Ideas. All the Designers did such an incredible job. I am honored to be listed among them. I also designed another two page layout along with specific instructions (Recipe Card) but it can only be viewed if you are a member of The Scrap-Room...... So what are you waiting for???? GO SIGN UP ;)

It's Me

Hey You!
Yep, I'm talkin to You.
Remember me?
It's Shawnna, your long lost buddy.

Chicken Pox

Although I fully intended to be back up and blogging

by now, another blogging hiatus has ensued.

Makenna has the Chicken Pox. Regular blogging

will ensue once all spots are fully scabbed over.

I wouldn't want you to catch the pox virtually.

Plus this will insure that I am available to answer

"Mommy, how much longer till the chicken pox are gone?"

for the 5 millionth time.

send prayers and calamine lotion ;)

Barista

Need to interrupt this blogging hiatus with Breaking News

Just found out that I made the Design Team at The Scrap-Room.

That is right, I am now a Barista

I keep having to reassure myself, it doesn't seem real.

Feeling so so so BLESSED!!!

Can't wait for the September kit to arrive in my mailbox.

Blogging Hiatus

I have been taking a CNA class all week, and I will be in class and doing clinicals next week as well. A short blogging hiatus has ensued. Will return as soon as I master all my new skills which include but are not limited to: pulse and respiration, blood pressure, perineal care, bed bathing, and etc.

Crafty Goodness

Just received my Gauche Alchemy order and I am in

♥ LOVE ♥ ...seriously

They had me at Hello

The kids were ecstatic because they thought the Postman delivered us pizza (the box resembles a pizza box, at least to a 9 and 10 year old).

Once I opened the box I was elated. It was even wrapped neatly. I totally felt like I was opening a gift and at their prices it was practically true.

For the love of crafty holiness run and place an order....did I say I was in love ♥ (have a pic to post but need to find my connecty cord thingy...yeah I'm all technical and stuff )

13 years

Another year
Another anniversary
tough day
always is
wonder if that will ever change

I love my first born son so much
forever and always

I wonder what he would be like
what sports would he play
would he even like sports at all
what would he look like
what would his personality be like
serious, organized, type A
or goofy and spontaneous

I miss him
I wish he could still be here with me
but my wishing doesn't change things
my only comfort comes from believing
I will see him again

Today I hugged my other children tighter and longer than usual
and today they let me without pulling away
I needed that and I think HE knew it
Thanks BIG GUY (I like to call God that sometimes)
____________________
back story:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three

My Tiny Dancer

Another Girl Friday Layout. I love this paper :) and the TSR KIT was loaded :)
Title and Journaling: My tiny Dancer. Life is Beautiful. it is such a joy watching you at dance class. Photo 2007
Products
cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned Paper: Cosmo Crickt Girl Friday
Vintage Lace
assorted ric rac
Flowers: Prima and Making Memories
White paint (to distress the letters, they were a little bright for the layout)
Puff paint
Letters: Making Memories, American Crafts Thickers, and Cosmo Cricket
Embellishments Cosmo Cricket and Heidi Swapp

Isn't She Lovely

These were photos of Makenna from 3/22/07 in the bluebonnets out west of Houston toward the Hill Country.

Most products came from The Scrap-Room's April 2009 kit :)

Products:

Cardstock:Bazzill

Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday

Buttons: Making Memories & assorted

Ribbon: Making Memories

Letter Stickers: American Crafts and Making Memories

Embellishments: Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday :)

Hidden Journaling reads:

I know that all too soon you will be finished with letting me fix your hair and posing for photos. I cherish these fleeting moments. I {heart} you!

Superficial Stuff

posted about this layout on the TSR BLOG a bit ago. This one is filled with random superficial stuff that makes me happy :) Many of the items used were from The Scrap-Room's April 2009 kit.

Cardstock: Bazzill

Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket Girl friday, Imaginisce

Letters: Thickers, EK Success Sticko, Cosmo Cricket

Random Labels

Making Memories and assorted buttons

Prima flowers

a Scenic Route Button from CHA 2008

and a drink topper I got at Shogun ;)

Journaling: Superficial Stuff that Makes me HAPPY - mermaids, owls, and hedgies. Thickers, Cosmo Cricket, Old Navy, Gap, Scenic Route, anthropologie, love elsie, October Afternoon, and 7 jeans

I like to scrapbook....so sue me

Here is a layout I made of my ubber hunky husband.

Almost all items are from The Scrap Room's 4/09 Making Memories Love Notes kit

full product list:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Patterned Paper: Making Memories

Embellishments: Jenni Bowlin tickets and bingo card

black bracket from The Paper Studio

Staples

Felt heart

black lace

black zig pen

Journaling:

You're the best friend that I've ever had

I've been with you such a ling time

You're my sunshine and I want you to know

That my feelings are true I really

love you. You're my best friend.

lyrics by Queen

I'm Alive ;)

Alive and well in Arkansas
Trying to get used to the slower
pace of life in such a small town.

We did go into Little Rock on Saturday
to check out Gusano's Chicago style pizza
and hit up the farmers market

I am almost finished unpacking
Still have Noah's room and my scraproom
We worked on the garage on Saturday evening
and I ended up hurting my back so we took Sunday
to try out a new church and relax

Missing my kiddos who are visiting family in
Houston and excited to see their reaction when
they finally see the house

A Whirlwind

Lots of stuff has happened in the past few weeks.

• I had my doctor scare.
• Heath was offered a job in another state.
• He accepted said job and found out on Wednesday that he had to report to work Monday morning (May 18th)in Little Rock.
• We took the kids to Aunt Christi's on Friday and then drove to Little Rock.
• While we were in route we received a call from our realtor, who was going to show us about 20 houses for rent (or houses that have been on the market for a while and the owners are willing to rent) over the weekend, saying that his wife was in labor and we were on our own for the weekend.
• We arrived in Little Rock after 1 a.m. and began composing a list from newspaper/internet ads and started calling Saturday morning to try to set up showings because we needed a realtor to view all the houses we had previously planned to look at.
• We had a difficult time getting a hold of people and were only able to walk inside about 6 houses all weekend. We spent most of our time driving through neighbor hoods that we had heard had good school districts looking for FOR RENT signs.
• This weekend just so happend to coinside with my PMS so one minute I was saying "it's ok God is going to lead us to the PERFECT house for us with/without a realtor", and the next minute I was fighting back tears thinking ARE WE REALLY DOING THIS AGAIN?
• Saturday the kids stayed the night with my mom and my mother met me here in Tulsa on Sunday night.
• Heath is staying in Little Rock throughout the week and will be coming home on the weekends, until we can find housing there and the kids are out of school. He also found out yesterday (his first day on the job)that he will be traveling to the Jonesboro, AR area for at least the next couple of months. Isn't that like bait and switch or something?
• We were told in the beginning that his relocation package would be the same amount if not a little bit more than last time. We found out on Friday that the amount was $3500 less than what we had expected. Then today after some recalculations it is $2000 less than what we expected and that is the final number.

I am so frustrated with all of this. It has been a uphill battle but I know that my husband made the right decision taking this job. I know that God has blessed him with this opportunity and I know that God will see this move through to the end. He is with us and is going before us. I just have to keep reminding myself of this. It is easy to just throw your hands up and say "I QUIT" it is much harder to do what you feel God is calling you to do. Too bad it can't be the other way around! LOL!! :)

Moles

had a dermatologist appointment today
and I must say I don't think there is
anything more humiliating than having
someone look over your entire body with
some sort of odd magnifying apparatus

Cause REALLY some parts of me just don't
need to be magnified.

on a side note: I can't even think about the word
MOLES without thinking of Larry the Cable Guy

I was tagged by my sweet friend Ashlee last week, and due to all the hair pulling finals I had to take, I am just now getting to it.

What's your current obsession? music,owls, hedgehogs, toadstools, and mermaids
What's your weirdest obsession? ummm....see the list above
What are you wearing today? flip flops with jeans and a tee of course
Why is today special? well.... I'm breathing so I say it's off to a good start ;)
What would you like to learn to do? I would love to learn to play the piano, sew something more than straight lines, knit/crochet..... the list is endless
What's the last thing you bought? Fish .... it's what's for dinner
What are you listening to right now? Jason Mraz and my new neighbors russelling around upstairs.
What's your favorite weather? I like it HOT HOT HOT (I have some sort of weird cold intolerance that I blame on my thyroid or lack there of)
What's your most challenging goal right now? becoming a NURSE....finishing my degree, with all these moves it seems to be getting further and further out of reach
What do you think about the person who tagged you? Ashlee is super sweet and creative.
What's your favorite guilty pleasure? No Bake Cookies --- I just luv em' but only make them once or twice a year because I just can't resist them
Favorite vacation spot? I like Mexico .... but there is the swine flu issue
What would you like to have in your hands right now? a cup of coffee I am freezing but don't want to turn the heat on
What would you like to get rid of? All of our excess STUFF ..... living in a tiny apartment with the majority of your belongings in a storage building for a year really makes you think
If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Italy or Iran
What language do you want to learn? spanish for work purposes but italian just because it is such a beautiful language
What super power would you like to possess? i don't know
What's your favorite thing about the city you live in? ummmm.... the fact that there is virtually NO TRAFFIC
What's your favorite piece of clothing in your closet? my seven jeans and my simple shoes
What's your dream job? NURSE
If you had $150 now what would you spend it on? if I was spending it on myself probably some actions for Photoshop
Do you admire anyone's style? I think there is something unique about everyone's individual style so I guess I admire you ALL!!
Describe your personal style. comfy and casual
Who's fashion show would you want tickets to? could I stay home and read instead
Who's closet would you like to raid? no clue
What are you most proud of? My family .... our love for Christ and each other
If you could choose one person who had passed to have lunch with who would it be and why? my son
If you're tagged...get to answering! Copy the questions and tag some of your friends just to tick them off!!(love that)
1. aloughridge
2. Nicole Maki
3. Janine
4. Angela

Ultrasound

I had my ultrasound yesterday and everything went really well. He did see some scar tissue and commented that my carotid artery was smaller than normal and asked if I was getting adequate blood flow to my head.

Ummmmm I hope so

LOL!!

then again maybe that is why i am so crazy

The best news is that I don't have to see an endo for 6months. That is BIG people. HUGE
I have been seeing a doctor every 6 wks (lots of blood work) for nearly 2 years now.

Super excited.

Now I can focus on more important things :)
thank you all so much for your prayers and support

Finally... heard from the dr. today

they finally received the full report - the doctor reviewed it in it's entirety and called me
The doc thinks that what showed up on the scan may be my throat or more precisely the saliva in it. He wants to do an ultrasound to be sure, but because my tumor markers are low (thyroglobulin levels) he is leaning toward that. Thank you so much for your prayers.

In other news it looks like we will soon be relocating to Little Rock, AR.
We are still waiting to find out the specific relocation package we will be receiving but as long as it is similar to what we have received in the past it will be all systems go.

Heath scored some tickets to see the Jason Mraz concert last night. It was amazing and I must say the Plain White T's also rocked the house. We had a great time thanks to some friends of ours who were willing to keep our kiddos. It was the second time Heath and I have gone out on a "date" since moving here in 2007. Really fun night!!!