hillbilly scraps from a hillbilly sweetpea

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-10-16T23:30:00.000-04:00

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

Leave it to the Grosgrain blog to bring me out of my blogging stupor! Between using this gorgeous costume for Tink and using it for my photography biz, it would definitely get plenty of use!!!! Isn't it amazing?!

Loose Teeth Vintage Inspired Sundress with Petticoat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-05-18T01:25:00.000-04:00

Loose Teeth Vintage Inspired Sundress with Petticoat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!
:) I haven't blogged in quite a while, but leave it to a fabulous blog to get me to get off my bum and at least type up a quick YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS! :) Who doesn't love a fab giveaway, right?!

Ressurection Cookies (Easter Cookies)

2009-04-09T00:43:00.001-04:00

This is something we have done many many times with our kids and it holds new meaning every year for us. Lane is now 14 and just asked the other day if we could please do this on Saturday night. Elijah was only about 4 the first time we made them and he really "got it" too....so I thought I would share this with everyone just in case you wanted to get the ingredients together before the weekend!....I posted this last year, but thought I would post again!

Ingredients:
1 c. whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1 c. sugar

You will also need:
Bible
re-sealable baggie
wooden spoon
mixing bowl
electic mixer
cookie sheet
waxed paper
tape

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

* Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.

* Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

* Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life so that we could have life. Read John 10:10-11.

* Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers. Read Luke 23:27.

* So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

* Beat with a mixer on high speed for several minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

* Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.

* Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

* GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20-22.

* On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! Explain how the tomb was empty on the first Easter because Christ had risen from the dead! Read Matthew 28:1-9

VERY long overdue "Thanks"...

2009-02-19T10:27:00.003-05:00

This is a very long overdue post. As in like 2 months overdue :(.
I am praying that the people who made this possible do not think that we were ungrateful, nothing could be further from the truth! The following people went above and beyond and out of their way to make our Christmas so very merry and bright and gave our entire family a renewed faith in our fellow "man" as it were!
A very sweet bloggy friend nominated our family for a Christmas good will event at Barefoot Mommies & Barefoot Military Mommies. All sorts of wonderful crafters from all over the etsy-web donated their time and goods to bring joy to us....from bows & dresses for Li'l T to hats and poppers for the boys, smell goods, candles, treats & sweets....nearly daily we recieved packages! I was given 3 baby tooth albums (think baby book for those lil pearly whites :D) and change purses, necklace and candles/soaps/smell goods.....It was amazing! Below is a list of all the wonderful people who reached out during one of the busiest times of the year and blessed us! My prayer is that in 2009, they will recieve a double portion of blessing for the ones they poured out on us in 2008!

Lyn at http://florspace.etsy.com for darling handmade gifts such as purses & wristlets

Suzann (aka Granny Zann) at http://grannyzann.etsy.com for adorable clothes and warm fuzzy fleece hats!

Sarah at WithCherriesOnTop.etsy.com for some of the most gorgeous (and sturdy!) bows you could ever hope to put in your little one's hair!

Gel n' Scents for the yummiest looking candles, best smelling scented beads (the boys argued over who got them!), and beautiful jewelry around! I can't even begin to describe all the goodies she "scent" us ;)

Ashley at http://crazyfroglady.etsy.com for all sorts of adorable handcrafted gifts and goodies! My kids (and myself) fell in love with her crayon pouches!

There was at least one more artisian who sent me a beautiful necklace and I cannot find the card that gave the name/webaddress :(
IF I forgot anyone PLEASE forgive me and shoot me an email so I can add them to the list! I apologize for the delay in getting this blog post up...I kept thinking "get pics so you can post them" and then didn't get all the pics I wanted so I kept procrastinating...add that to sick kids, out of whack sugars and just day to day "where did the day go" scatterbrainedness and you have a sheepish blogger/mommy begging for mercy and understanding ;)

Chelle, you are a doll and I am forever grateful to you for nominating us!
Krissy & Angela, BOTH of you are amazing and your blogs are such a blessing to so many people! (those are the Barefoot Mommies!)

The bows in the pics below are the ones from Sarah, the little Christmas Pillowcase Dress is from Granny Zann (as are the fleece hats, which the boys have got LOTS of use out of this cold cold winter!) L-dest doesn't normally look so psycho, I took his pic while he was trying to watch something on t.v....the boys wore those hats, in the house, for 2 days straight lol "they are so SOFT!"....Like I said, I did not get a pic of all the beautiful, wonderful goodies but they were appreciated just as much! Thank you thank you thank you to all the wonderful crafters, to the barefoot mommies and to Chelle....you are all amazing!

Contemporary Portrait 6...

2009-02-07T20:30:00.003-05:00

My oldest last week...
This is another one of those photos that makes me realize just how quickly his youth is progressing toward manhood. His wild thick wavy hair gives him a somewhat younger look, but the evening I took this photograph we had just straightened his hair.... where did my little boy go?
(He will be FOURTEEN in a little over a month!)

If you would like to participate in the Contemporary Portrait meme, visit I'm In Culture Shock and link it up!

:) Please visit...

2009-01-31T20:39:00.002-05:00

Please visit my other blog :) http://fantacys365.blogspot.com/ I have actually kept up with it for an entire month!

Contemporary Portrait 5...snow day!

2009-01-30T19:26:00.003-05:00

This week I have a VERY recent portrait! Yay me! :) We had about 3-5 inches of snow, then an inch of ice, then another 5-7 inches of snow in a 48 hour period this week! My oldest was not willing to venture out in the bitter cold to play (or even have his pic taken) but the younger 2 did and we had a lot of fun :). My photo this week is, once again, a photo of my dd Tink... She LOVES snow...to play in...to make snow angels in...and of course to eat ;)
I had 3 or 4 that I absolutely loved but this was one that just stood out :) I love the expression on her face, the snow caked on her gloves and sleeves, her locks of hair sticking out from under her hat and the way her purple jacket stands out against the white snow :) This photo just epitomizes "childhood winter" to me :)
This is part of the Contemporary Portrait meme hosted by I'm in Culture Shock (see the button on my sidebar...yeah the one with Tink on it ;) )...why not post a portrait shot and link it up over there?!

Contemporary Portrait 4 (I missed 3)....

2009-01-23T10:47:00.003-05:00

Ok :) I have shown off my pouty youngest and my oh-so-rarely-smiles-for-photos eldest now is the time to let my Middle E shine :D He is my biggest challenge most days but he is also my most affectionately loving most days...He is a walking contradiction in so many ways. He loves to argue but can't stand not being in agreement...He hates disappointing anyone but never wants to work for anyone's approval...He is brilliantly intelligent but normally chooses to follow his gut before his brain lol
He is, for all his contradictions, imperfectly perfect :)
To say my life would be dull without him would be the understatement of the century!

I missed C.P. week 3, but am happy I remembered ON TIME to post week 4 ;)
If you would like to participate in the Contemporary Portrait meme click on the button on my sidebar (yeah the one with Tink on it ;) ). And could someone explain to me why why call it a "meme?"

Contemporary Portrait 2...

2009-01-13T10:36:00.004-05:00

Once again I am late posting this...grrrr! Contemp- orary Portrait is supposed to be posted on FRIDAYS (making note to self so I make it next week!) I am also going to try to make sure that I take a portrait for my 365 Project each week so that I can combine the 2! (although I am enjoying getting to show off some of my photos from last year so who knows) lol
This is my oldest, the Big L...it takes SO much to get him to smile for a photo, so I love this one for sure :D He is such a great kidlet!
Oh yes, if any of you know of anyone with a fully functioning dslr that they are looking to get rid of for fairly inexpensive please let me know! (I would LOVE a nikon or canon...even an old model as long as it is dslr and still takes good photos). There are 2 reasons for me being so gung-ho to get a "big girl" camera, 1. My cousin has asked me to take photos at his wedding, which I really really really am dreading because with a point and shoot there is no getting a decent pic in an old church... and 2ndly, I am planning on (as soon as I do get a decent camera) starting to take photos for moms who cannot afford to have their newborn's pics taken (like the birth announcement pics). I would be doing this through a local pregnancy crisis center that members of our church family help with.
I know that several people got new cameras for Christmas and several people upgraded from older dslr models, so if you know of any of those who would be interested in getting rid of their old camera please shoot me an email! I don't have a lot of money to spend, but even if we could work out a payment plan with my parents or something (I would get the money from them then pay them back a little at a time). OR if any of you know of a reputable 2nd hand camera shop that does online business, I am open for suggestions! The birth photo endeavor is something I would really love to start and be able to keep up with...I appreciate any help anyone can give!

**oh yeah, see the li'l "Contemporary Photo" button on my sidebar? That is Tink! :D I am so excited :)....Click on it and participate!**

Didn't make the 365 Cut....

2009-01-07T00:52:00.006-05:00

This year I have decided to take on the 365 challenge. The challenge to take at least a pic a day that represents you day to day life...
Photos are like Lays Potato Chips though, no one can take just one.
If I have more than one good one, I will most likely post however many I feel like I want per day on my Project 365 blog, however there are some pics that definitely define my day to day life that just didn't make the cut even though we are only 6 days into it....these would be "those" photos....
This is a common site in our bathroom, my middle kidlet's UPS cap that he loves that reads "Think Brown" and even though the kid never remembers to take his cap off at the supper table, he seems to remember when he um "thinks brown"...just seems ironic every time I go in and see used matches and that cap on the back of the toilet...maybe it is just me though, not many other people seem to catch the irony ;).

Then there is this....I ask for a sincere smile....a simple half smile...or no smile at all, just a "normal" face....
This is what I get in return....Middle E my love, this will come back to haunt you at some point I am sure....oh yes, I am sure......bwahahahahaha

and finally, this was supposed to be a "cute" shot of 2 of my "grandbabies" that I was "babysitting" for li'l T....supposed to be cute and all I can think of when I see it is REDRUM..... REEEEEDRUUUUUM.... crimenies that gives me the willies! *note to self, no more "cute" pics of twin dolls.....*

when I compose this blog post it looks right but when I preview or post it, it is all wonky so please forgive the massive gaps! Not sure why it is hating me atm...

Contemporary Portrait 1...

2009-01-06T08:03:00.003-05:00

Just a random candid of my younger son and my hubby (who was actually scolding our youngest, thus the weird mouth thing lol). I love how much our kids love their daddy and vice versa. This is my contemporary portrait for this week (better late than never huh?). Head over to I'm In Culture Shock for other portraits posted this week :).

2008-12-27T01:27:00.002-05:00

Tink LOVES her new guitar that Mamaw Nia and Papaw Danny got her after they got a call from the big guy up North ;). Only problem is, at least for a little while, I am not sure how much the rest of us can take lol...but she does love to sing and play that li'l flatop box ;)

Christmas Card '08 (ala family style)

2008-12-20T18:17:00.002-05:00

Well I had every intention of sending out Christmas cards this year...ordered them in plenty of time, got the prints back and in EVERY print it looked like I had socked Mike in the eye! Snapfish says that they do no auto-correction on their prints but SOMETHING got screwed up! The colors were off (kinda washed out and blah) and the corner of mike's eye (where it is a little dark on this pic) was blackened about half way around his eye!
SO instead here is my Christmas greeting to everyone :D Hope you have a blessed and Christmas and Happy New Year too! From my goofy family to yours ;)

My dream?...

2008-12-19T21:27:00.002-05:00

I don't normally post giveaway links here. All of you know that. Tonight is different. I know that I have already posted one earlier, but I had to post this one too....if there is even a teeny tiny chance that I might win it, I have to try!
If you are part of my family you know this already, if you are a friend you MIGHT know it (maybe not), if you ever visit my blog you might have an idea...but my dream for the past 11 yrs has sincerely been to do some sort of photography for a living. We aren't talking the type that has galleries in NYC, just the type that makes enough to help the family income out and makes enough from her paid jobs to do photographs for families who can't afford studio prices (or even wal-mart prices!). Part of our church family is closely involved with the local pregnancy crisis center. This is where mothers (teen to however old) can go and get assistance during their pregnancy and after. Most of these moms cannot afford even the smallest package of birth photos (those stinkin' things are EXPENSIVE!) or photos of their older children. I would love to be able to volunteer a couple days a week to just do photos for these moms. BUT it takes something I don't have....a DSLR camera. I am not complaining about the camera that I have! It is just that it is very limited as to what type of photos I can shoot because it is very limited with quality in low light or things like that....IF I were able to choose my gift package what I would choose would be the Nikon D60 DSLR camera! If not, I would choose the PS3 game package for Mike and the boys. (but secretly every part of me wants that camera more than I can express lol...ok not so secretly ;) ).
SO....how can you have a chance to make YOUR dreams come true?! Just head over to TechnoSailor's blog and tweet, comment, and blog about it!

Give a li'l get a li'l...er um a LOT!

2008-12-19T17:02:00.002-05:00

Jaffe Juice is hosting a $500 gift package giveaway (package from Sears, sponsored by Izea)! I would love to win the Nintendo Wii Fun Bundle! We have a Wii (thanks to elijah saving every penny he got last year), but only have one game for it (the one that came with it). SO I would keep a couple of the games for the kids and give the gamesystem and remaining games to the brother of a fellow blogger for his kids (if they didn't have one)! Head on over there for YOUR chance to win!

My submission for Portrait contest :)

2008-12-16T21:05:00.003-05:00

My 4 yr old daughter is a girl of many moods and just as many likes and dislikes! She was letting me know that I had taken enough pics of her this day, and it turned out to be one of my favorites! This is my submission for a Contemporary-Portrait photo contest at I'm In Culture Shock! I have "cuter" pics and I have more "classic" pics but this one is one of my all times favorites (esp. since it had to be "recent"):D

Grosgrain is at it again...:D

2008-12-16T17:45:00.000-05:00

Tree Lighting Wrap Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!
I have been trying to only enter giveaways that I am sure can be put to good use if I were to win them...THIS is definitely one of those! I can just SEE Tink in this gorgeous li'l frock, collar turned up, hair styled neat and tight with her big ol' afropuff on top!...sigh....
Oh yeah, um back to the reason for the post lol....Kathleen is giving this frock away to one reader! If you know some precious little Princess who would look dashing and gorgeous in it, go on over and follow the instructions to win!

Narrowed it down to 3....

2008-12-15T23:53:00.003-05:00

Ok so I thought and thought and went back and forth and back and forth in my head about which pic to use for this contest at I'm In Culture Shock that should have a PhD in Awesomeness, and just cannot decide :(. My boys are just NOT very emotive in photos lately and Tink is never not oozing with one emotion or another so I decided on one of her pics....but which one?! I am running short on time and need some input...here are 3 pics taken within the last few months...which one do YOU think would have a shot at winning? The grand prize is 20 bucks in the winners paypal account! 20 bucks! That is like 20 digiscrap kits if I get them on Fab Friday or $1 Deals Thursday or....well you get the idea! So out of the 3 pics, which do you like? ask a friend, which do THEY like....ask your kids, your hubby, your neighbor! HELP!

Do YOU love me?!

2008-12-11T17:17:00.003-05:00

Wow, Melanie sure knows how to guilt a girl into doing a questionnaire! Sheesh! (um but yeah I am so going to use the same tactic ;) )

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I love the quickness of bags, but c'mon, seriously, wrapping paper is ALWAYS the best!

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial, but told Mike that just once I would like to try a real tree :)

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the first week in NOVEMBER, but this year not until the day before Thanksgiving...and it STILL isn't decorated, only has lights on it.

4. When do you take the tree down? Normally the week the kids go back to school...it always depresses me to take it down so I do it when they are not home.

5. Do you like eggnog? I think I would, I know I love eggnog milkshakes!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I can't say which was my FAVORITE, but my most surprising one was the year we got our first Cabbage Patch Kid :) (and that was the only one I had until I was an adult!)...for 1 we never got expensive gifts at Christmas, for 2 it was the year that there were riots over them, we lived in Knoxville TN that year and it was all over the news that people were being trampled and beat up over them! My mom happened to be walking by the doors that led to the loading dock and an employee stuck her head out and let mom know there was a shipment being unloaded :D She said she just couldn't pass it up :)

7. Hardest person to buy for? Just about everyone this year :(...with finances what they are it is hard to find "the perfect gift" with no money lol

8. Easiest person to buy for? definitely Tink (Chloe)

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yep! I collect them :)

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Both :) I email a lot but I also mail ones to certain family/friends and always try to mail ones to people who mail them to us :)

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? The year Mike bought me the generic walmart plastic tupperware stuff, which wouldn't have been "the worst" if he hadn't asked me a week before Christmas "Hey hun, you want to open your gift early?" I said "I do, but I don't...I think I'll just wait" He said "no, really go on and open it, I REALLY want you to" so I did and it was that (I thought it was just a joke and there was something else in the box) When I opened the box and saw the bowls with lids, he said "Thanks, now can you hand me the big one for the left over spaghetti?" He had made spaghetti and needed a bowl for it....sigh :P
Let me say that he TOTALLY rectified it a couple years later when he bought me my first digital camera!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Muppets Christmas Carol hands down!

13 When do you start shopping for Christmas? The day after Christmas :)

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think I have but honestly not against it lol especially if it were something that I didn't really care for but I knew someone who did.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mike's grandma's Sweet Potato Casserole or his other grandma's vinegar cole slaw!

16. Lights on the tree? I use colored and white :) (it isn't as gross as it sounds!)

17. Favorite Christmas song? wow this one changes for me all the time :)

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I think it would be nice to wake up at home on Christmas Day, but I would feel so let down if we didn't wake up at my mom & dad's....so I really can't answer this :(

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Dasher Dancer Prancer Vixen Comet Cupid Donder (or Donner) and Blitzen....and of course Rudolph, duh!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? usually a Teddy Bear dressed like Santa

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? here at home we do it Christmas late morning, but we open presents at his grandma's and then at his dad's Christmas Eve (I think we are combining his mom's and his dad's this year though!) and ONE present at my mom's Christmas Eve (new pajama's and slippers), then we open presents at my mom's at like 4 or 5 a.m. at my mom's, go back to sleep for a couple hours then head home for gifts and showers and then off to his other grandma's then to his mom's :) (yeah we are wore out by the time those 2 days are over)

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Grumpy people!!!! Seriously guys, we can CHOOSE to be in a cheerful mood no matter how long lines are, what gifts are sold out, or how far we have to park from the store!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I love anything handmade or "countryish" :)

24. Favorite thing for Christmas dinner? see question 15 :)

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? hm what I WANT or what I wish for....I want my kids & hubby to have a great and happy Christmas but if you are asking what I would personally wish to have for myself it would be a DSLR Camera with a few awesome lenses :)

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? Everyone who loves me (stealing melanie's tactic)

27. Who is least likely to respond: People who do not love me. (stealing melanie's tactic)

So, now if you love me- post your answers! Let me know if you do play along so I can check out your answers.

No Turkeyday Pics?!

2008-12-05T00:19:00.006-05:00

Nope, not ONE, how is THAT for rebellion?! But I have to admit, I have taken a few photos since then and here they are as proof ;). HOPEFULLY the boys are going to let me take a bunch this weekend IF IF IF I ever get the stinkin decorations on the tree! I miss having oodles of pics of my boys, but they just refuse or grumble so much it doesn't seem worth the fight sometimes :(....anyway, here are a few recent pics of Tink and I think one or two of the boys ;)

Just some pics before school...it was bring your teddy bear day....
**Tink (chloe) has a problem with not wanting to look directly AT the camera so I have tons of pics of her making this face....**

This is her current "pick" of stuffed toys...that is a baby outfit she bought with her change at goodwill during 99 cent kids clothes day a few weeks ago, and yep, she bought it specifically for THIS teddy bear "cuz he was nekked momma! except for his gwasses"

Since finanaces are a bit tight (lol that is an understatement) Tink & I have started making clippies for her hair instead of buying them...this is one of her favorites....

This is not the greatest pic but it shows how my daughter dresses a LOT of the time....the turtleneck was a 99 cent goodwill find, i think the tights were bought at walmart last year but they too might be from the big g.w. (no not the president, goodwill of course), the "shirt" is a dress that is 2 sizes too small as are the pants (the pants are actually a 24 month but she LOVES them and they fit her waist so she says they "still fit"...)

This is her cry baby face...

see how short the pants are lol they have went from pants to capris and are pushing becoming shorts soon! lol

lane made me promise not to post these on myspace, so I honored his wishes ;) (hey now, he didn't say a word about posting on my blog!) I have to grant him one thing, his nose is NOT that big...not sure if it is the angle or b/c he has his face scrunched up in laughter & pain but his nose does look ginormous in this pic....the younger 2 were using him as a "horse"...keep in mind, elijah is NOT a small child lol so this was a lot of weight!

another "not so great" pic, but this just reminded me (when I took the pic from across the room trying to be incognito) that even at 10 yrs old, li'l boys need snuggles from time to time ESPECIALLY from their daddies...

One of my new faves of tink :) That is her baby that goes with us whenever the teddy bear doesn't...tink's dress AND the baby's dress, 99 centers!

She would sit on his lap, but acted like she was mute...she absolutely refused to do more than nod yes or no to him lol...he looks kinda grumpy or something in these pics but he was a very nice santa and the pics were free! I took these 2 and they gave us one...it was at BassPro Shop the weekend after Thanksgiving and they allowed you to bring your own camera too (at the mall Santa, you can only take your own IF you are buying one of their packets too and the cheapest is like 18 dollars for a 5x7!!!!) soooooooooooooooooo another buck or two saved ;) and we still got to see the big guy in the red suit....

this was actually AT Bass Pro, I just deleted the background (it wasn't a pretty backdrop like the fish tank or animals, it was a stupid temporary boat display or something lol)...

The other morning I couldn't find Tink in her room....this is why.....

And finally the boys helping put up the tree...they did a great job!

:D ok still a lot of pics, but not as bad as trying to do an entire season in one post ;)
If you leave a comment, let me know which one is your fave...I might be entering a contest (you can pick one of these or one of the fall ones from a previous post) for portraits of people ;)....

I just realized...

2008-11-24T00:24:00.036-05:00

I just realized that it is almost Thanksgiving and I never got around to posting any fall/halloween pics! so here are the bazillion or so that I like the most...this is only about 1/10 of the pics I took in Oct.! (some with short descriptions, some without ;) )
hope you are not on dial up...if you are, just close this screen NOW! :D
**Update on my mom...her eye is actually healing amazingly well! Even the docs are stumped (we aren't though, God is faithful to answer prayers :) )! They are now saying she will most likely make a COMPLETE recovery!!!! (long shot from "you might lose sight completely and forever") lol**

The abandoned baseball in the backyard...yes folks, summer is sincerely over....

Miss Attitude herself in her 3 dollar outfit (all 3 pieces were 99 cents each at goodwill)...she is showing me how they get quiet in preschool..."one hand on your hip and one on your lip"....she loves it

Her favorite place to sleep...on daddy's chest...I have a million pics of them sleeping, but it never ceases to tug at my heart when I see them :)

She wore this shirt no less than 15 days in the month of October...seriously...she kept calling it her "cool shirt" (99 cents at goodwill) and her "cool shorts" (99 cent boy shorts from goodwill)...are you seeing a pattern with her favorite clothes?

My ornery nephew, in HIS 99 cent sweater that Tink picked out for him :)

This is actually the end of the parade and Lane was feeling the "ugh" of carrying quads for a couple of miles while marching...

Tink watching the parade...see that li'l cluster of people behind the ambulance? That is their entire marching band....seriously...

Tinks crush (on the left) and Lane during the Homecoming parade (this was actually the beginning of the parade)

li'l viking

This one is out of order but it was taken at the pumpkin patch :)

What is she staring at?!

ut oh...yeah, its 2 kittens that were working on getting ran over in MIL's apartment driveway...we put them in the box and Tink wouldn't quit looking at them....

and looking at them.....

We took the kittens to my mom's house in hopes that we could find someone who would want them, then we headed for our annual trip to a pumpkin patch north of my mom's....

we learned that cows LOVE pumpkins....

My older nephew, my big kid, my baby kid, and my middle kid :)

we returned the orange kitten to my MIL's apartment complex and took a chance that daddy MIGHT let us keep the calico (it was a girl, the orange was a boy....she was in MUCH worse shape than the boy, this is after 4 or 5 baths :( )

can you tell we kinda like her? and after several days daddy gave in and let us keep "Jofehfeen" as Tink started calling her....(Josephine)
Here she is giving her "I am a tough-butt" look, ears down and all ;)

This is her ninja kitty look ;)

in between shots of the kitten, I caught E-man laughin it up at something :) I don't normally catch honest to goodness candids of him very often so this was a treat ;)

honestly, how could daddy have said no?

"Tink, what are you doing?"... She replied that she had put her baby to sleep....

These are all from our fall pics that didnt all turn out so well lol

My 3 :)

My Oldest....

My younger nephew :)

I love this pic because it is showing his TRUE personality ;)

My 2 nephews...

My older nephew :)

and last but DEFINITELY not least, my middle'un....trying to get a "serious" or "posed" pic of him is like trying to get a cow not to fart....

When asked what the next 2 pics were about he said "I am de-ad schexy"....good Lord

Then this is the first day that was cold enough for Tink to wear her new coat that MIL got her for her birthday...

ok, she was sick of pics...enough already....

Halloween is crazy busy for us...by "halloween" I mean starting about a week before! this was in preparation for the fall festival/costume contest in the town my mom lives in....I forgot about the contest until the day before so I had literally HOURS to make her costume (and eli's) the night before the contest...Hubby's grandma donated an old sheet, the rest was up to me and Tink lol

I loved how the arms and her hand turned out...had my fingers crossed for the rest of the ensemble! We did this much at home then headed to mom's to finish up....didn't want her having to ride 30 minutes in full costume lol

a littler further into it.....yes that is all her hair...well her hair plus a TON of Aussie Instant Freeze hairspray and black & white cheapo walmart halloween spray....

Before the contest...the work was worth it! Didn't it turn out TOO cute?!

Elijah was cracking me up...he went as Spider Food or When Good Spiders Go Bad (he even named his spider....Jeffey....)

My 2 younger ones with my nephews....sniffle, sadly lane opted to sit out halloween this year, nearly broke my heart!

practicing her walk (not sure why her makeup looks blue in some of the pics...it truly was grayish)

navy admiral (yes we know he is saluting with the wrong hand...he is 5....lol)

Elijah cracks me up....I love this pic....looks like "Jeffey" finally got to him ;)

waiting for the parade to start....

and they are on the move! (it is a 2 block parade leading to the contest area lol, but the kids love it)

Tink got first, the lil pirate got 2nd and the fairy got 3rd :)

Bubba got second in his category!

Chase got 2nd in his and elijah's category, and tink finally let him near her lol

Chase got 2nd and elijah got first in their category :D

LOL we didn't know lane was "looming" over her until we were looking at the pics...the next few are of her "classic scream" poses ;)

she was getting tired, it was a long day!

her and daniel used part of their winnings to ride on the li'l carriage...

then they used more in the straw maze....at times this was all I could see of my daughter....lol

in the tunnel of the straw maze...turned out kinda creepy lol

Even reanimated dead girls get hungry after a long day of contests, mazes, carriage rides & such!

Lane and my daddy picking the last of the tomatoes before that nights freeze/frost (the first of the year)

we fried up the green ones...yum...sigh but no more until next summer SOBBING

Time to carve the pumpkins they picked out at the patch!

Elijah always takes the longest lol the others were done by the time he got his "lid" off

The first year she has not cried over touching the guts!

She kept saying "hurry momma....i don't want it IN my mou-ff"

Lane couldn't be outdone by a 4 yr old....

Ok, our tradition is that as soon as you "break the seal" of your lid, you get to be the first to smell it (yes we are weird, we all like the smell of pumpkin, it is like a passage into autumn...well the kids and I do, we don't think daddy does lol)

Tink poppin out the parts and then posing with her finished pumpkin...she wanted the eyes "silly" the mouth "scary" and it all to be "cute, you know"

count SPATula.....do I really have to claim this kid?

Jofehfeen "Joey" had to check it all out...

Lanes, Elijahs & Tinks....tink's looks like it is on fire....lol

raking leaves is just another sign that fall is here :D

This was before we left for our 2nd costume contest/festival....she was being the pharoah's kitten....lol

and it totally wore her out!

Daniel is such a goob..."now datsa spicya meatball!"

another phase in getting tink ready...this was for the 2nd contest....this was BEFORE any hairspray!

mommy was hurried and grumpy and the makeup/hair showed it :( but she still got first :D

looks like the admiral picked up some company on shore leave! yikes!

chase and his competition, he won first!

Eli gave it his best "my spider is draining me" performance but the competition was too stiff....he didn't win this go-round...

Trick or treat night 1....Eli is such a good brother :) and we ditched the colored hair for tink....

Eli's halloween "trick" on his teacher....pretending to have gotten beat up the night before....

not bad for washable markers ;)

Trick or Treat night 2...we ditched the hair color AND most of the makeup and she still looked way cute ;) just more like daughter of frankenstein's monster instead of bride ;) This was probably my favorite look for her costume :D

These are the 3 that I took trick or treating that night...bubba stayed at sis' house to pass out candy with her and goozie (chase) came to my house....lane was playing in the band at the playoff game that night....

not sure why but i really love this pic of them...maybe b/c it shows the time of day (setting sun, long shadows) or maybe it is b/c it reminds me of trick or treating when I was little....

this was NOT posed....he sat down to wait while chase got his gloves off to tie his shoe...I couldn't resist taking a pic ...not funny, just ironic ;)

in front of the SUPER scary house....the other 1/2 of the yard was too gruesome to show!

this is a bad pic, but that was one of the most awesome night skies to trick or treat under!

daddy hoarding the kids' hard earned candy!

be careful tink! he might bite & I don't think he is up to date on his shots!

Ok and here is our story board for the night....

"HA-HA!!!! I will now take the potion that my master concocted in his lab...bwahahahahaha!"

*gutteral gulpin noises*

*that weird strangle noise they always make after drinking the potion*

*screams* "what am i turning into?! what have i done?!"

"must ravage villages, throw small girls into ponds, and be chased by angry mobs!!!!!"

I think she is destined for stardom.....well she would have been 50-75 yrs ago, kids now-days just don't appreciate good acting ;) hahahahahahaha

Now just some random fall pics....
I call this one "slackers" since it was pushing late morning and these slackers were still resting on the wet leaves after a heavy fog lifted ;)

"neighbors" same morning fog made every spiderweb very visible and very beautiful (my pics don't do them justice)

inner beauty.....

:) I love the star shape of this late pumpkin bloom :D

I like to think of this one as "God loves me...He even shows me in the sweetest of ways"...

Wow if you made it through those, you are a better woman than I....I barely made it through and they were MY pictures! but now I feel like I have completed my posts for Oct. and can move on to Thanksgiving stuff ;)....yikes only 3 more days!

My Li'l Sketti Face...

2008-11-13T22:27:00.006-05:00

5 minutes for mom is hosting a fun with food photo contest along with Prego!
Not only do you get to show off your sweet babies, kidlets, furbabies or self, you have a chance to win $500 gift certificate to your favorite grocer!

What would YOU do with the money you wouldn't have to spend on groceries right before the holidays?!

This pic is of my Sweet Elijah when he was younger...funny thing is that he STILL looks like this when he eats spaghetti! I love his red, white, & blue clothes and that all American boy grin :)...and what all American boy DOESN'T love being messy?! :)

Can we say "C-U-T-E and WARM?!"

2008-11-11T21:18:00.006-05:00

Not to mention I want a pair (or 20) myself! BabySnazz is a site that I just found tonight and I am already having daydreams (in the evening) about all the cute ways these are going to go with Tink's outfits! (eh hem, or momma's...these would be super cute arm-warmers too)!
Right now if you go to their blog you can enter to win 20...YES, 20 pair of these adorable leg-warmers!
But that is not the only thing they carry! They have some adorable toys, blankets, baby carriers...the list goes on! Aside of the legwarmers, my absolute favorite is the little Mini BECO Baby Doll Toy Carrier
I mean seriously, how cute is THAT?!
Anyway, giveaway aside, their prices are really really REALLY reasonable and a lot of their items are on sale right now!!! :) Can you tell I might have a new fave site accessory site?! ;)

Win 20 Pairs of Baby Leg Warmers from babySNAZZ!

Video....I.A.M.D.I.A.B.E.T.I.C. You Know Wat Dat Means!

2008-11-11T08:08:00.004-05:00

hahahahaha OMGosh girls, I found my new hero...this kid is creative, funny, and keeps da big D real ;)
Diabetes is the big D I am talking about hahaha
I am type 2 but insulin dependent, was on the pump when we had insurance but I had to trade my "benz" back in for the "pinto" ;) (listen to the song)....UGH this kid need an award....shoot, he needs a record contract hahahahaha, here ya go, here is your giggle for the day.....but it gets stuck in your head so beware!

God loves me so much...

2008-11-09T22:57:00.004-05:00

It really blows me away sometimes to think just how much God loves ME...He loves me when I am following His will, His word, and His way. He loves me when I am walking in circles or stumbling along tripping over stones I, myself, have tossed in my own path. He just loves me, Fantacy. He knows my name, He knows my fears, He knows my heart, He knows my thoughts....He knows ME and He still loves me...isn't that amazing?!
Most of you who read my blog, know that I have never hidden my faith and that MOST of the time I have an unwavering peace and joy regardless of the situation. This past week was not necessarily a week where I felt that. I should have...I should have known that it would all turn out, but alas, I really am human....*gasp* I know! Can you hardly believe it?! ;)
A couple of weeks ago, dear hubs let me know that there was no money for Christmas. I know most of you are thinking "yeah, times are hard, we don't have much for Christmas either," BUT I mean we had NONE, NADA, ZIP, ZILCH, ZERO...get the idea. Hubby said that the kids just were going to have to learn that times are rough and sometimes these things happen. In concept that is fine and dandy. Life isn't fair but God always loves us and sometimes love just has to be enough. Ok, yeah, fine....but how do you explain that to a 10 yr old who is trying desperately to hang on to the idea that maybe there is a Santa even though he knows there isn't and a 4 year old that has been going on and on about the big Santa-man for the last month and a half because she has a list of things she has not been able to have this year b/c of our finances (nothing huge, just some things that she has asked for and didn't get). Lane is 13 1/2 now, he would completely understand, but it would kinda stink anyway. So in true, worry-wart fashion, I began to fret and stress and panic. I sat down for 2 1/2 days and entered in all sorts of blog contests (over 200 blogs and over 500 comments by my guesstimation). I applied at a couple more stores for employment (no answers/call backs as of yet). I asked about "giving-trees" and other things available to people in our situation (nothing back from those yet with word about if we qualify). You get the picture.
Mine and hubs bday was last Thursday (yep we have the same bday), but with all the help our families have given us this past year we didn't expect anything more than a birthday phone call...and hubs check was about as much as local teens make to work at McD's (I am not complaining, just explaining that when mortgage and bills are due and you are a family of 5, it doesn't quite make the cut) and Christmas is fast approaching...
I found out early last week that I won one of the giveaways for an adorable fleece poncho with hidden inner pockets (very Li'l Red Riding Hood-ish and VERY Tink)...
this is a $40 poncho from Po ny Sisters Ponchos!!!! The Chic Shopper Chick is the one who so generously posted the blog post giving this adorable poncho away :), go visit her blog and leave some love!
Then I entered a pic of Tink in her Halloween Costume on Leigh's blog, Welcome to Bloggeritaville. I really never expected to win after I saw how many great costumes there were....I mean, seriously, The Goblin King (from Labrynth), cute baby devils, darling lil baby chicks, rock n rollers, bobby sockers, adorable crying buglets, and The King himself...yes folks a tiny lil mini Elvis! And those are just a few! But I busted butt, emailed family, friends, momentary acquaintences....yeah pretty much everyone I could think of and asked them to vote (totally forgot to post a blog post...duh...) and lo & behold SHE WON! I had no clue what the prize was, but I had so much fun hanging out in Bloggeritaville that I honestly didn't really care what the prize was! Leigh's humor, love of her family, and love of life in general just shine through her blog! Go to her blog, read some, laugh a lot, and leave her some love too! Well come to find out, the prize was an absolutely adorable, absolutely must have been made with Tink in mind, absolutely PERFECT for my little girl reversible "flipside" hat
from the Cat in an Apron store!!!! Marne (the owner/amazing "sewing mastermind") was SO sweet when she emailed me to get Tink's size and my preference for which hat I wanted :D, and she even blogged about Tinker & her costume *HERE* Seriously go leave her some love, she even called me a cool mama ;)!!!....THEN...ah yes there is MORE!!!! On Wednesday night I get yet another email letting me know that I have won the creme-de-la-creme of baby doll strollers on a different blog!!! Karen, FrugalMomnyof2Girls, had a giveaway for a Joovy Toy Caboose (I love the blue one) and I won!!!!!
Seriously (wow I say/type that a lot...hm...random thought), this is not just a normal $5 walmart stroller here, we are talking a top of the line, decked out, super deluxe model that, I believe, costs more than the stroller we bought to push Tink around in when SHE was little!!!! I about croaked, right here at my desk....seriously! ;) Karen, like the ladies before her, was so amazingly sweet when she emailed me to let me know...I went on and on like a blathering idiot for probably a good 4 or 5 emails to her and she never made me feel stupid about it....**I hope you were sitting down for that announcement...you know the very shocking one...the one that stated I went on and on like a blathering idiot...I know, I know, I am just chock full of surprises tonight huh?** Anyway, out of all those blogs I entered for, the ones I won were so specifically perfect for Tink! Coincidence? I think NOT!
Thursday was our bday (as I said, but figured after all that reading you might have forgotten) and each of our parents gave us money...Can we say Fantacy had a big ol' snot slingin, tear jerkin' time the last few days?! Most of that went toward bills for the month, but Mike said that I could take part of it and put towards a few things for the boys for Christmas (um yeah, only the boys...have you not read the paragraph before this one?! Tink is taken care of completely for Christmas!!!) :). I know to most of you, that would not be a big deal, but for us it is huge to take any money from "bills" for anything that is not a total necessity (be praying hubs gets a better job, installing cable for the company he is with is just not a good place for him emotionally OR financially...grrrr, but that is neither here nor there in this post lol). So I had a list of things that they wanted which were things like (Elijah) A basketball, a basketball pump, a slinky...not one of those little ones that don't do stuff, a BIG one that goes down the stairs, a video game, I-Coaster, and a baseball bat...(Lane) a Jack Skellington long sleeve shirt, a cd, the Airplane dvd (Leslie Neilsen), and some Christian t-shirts (ones we saw at Walmart), $10 gift cert. to Hot Topic if no one can get me the Jack Skellington shirt....
Those were their lists....ages 10 and 13 1/2...I was so proud of them because I KNOW there are several expensive things I have overheard them wishing for to one another and they didn't ask for those things...kids understand more than we give them credit for ;)....*sniffle* ugh...OK ANYWAY....so I took part of our birthday money and was able to get a $20 basketball at Target for $4.98!!! got the pump for a little bit more than that there, then went to walmart and got his slinky (Elijah's Christmas....complete). Now, wal-mart had these great Christian based t-shirts last week...LAST WEEK i said...that lane wanted. Sometime in the couple of days since he asked for them, they had been clearanced and sold completely out!!!! My heart sunk :(. I went looking for the dvd he wanted which I had also seen just a few days before on the $5 rack and yep, you guessed it, nowhere to be found!!!! I was frantic b/c I had already looked at another nearby wal-mart and had called MIL who checked her wal-mart and none of them had it....so I mentioned it to the CSM at the front of the store and she told me not to leave until we were 100% sure they didn't have the shirts or movie. Her and another employee walked the entire store looking for the shirts (which were, in fact, sold out after all)! Then she and I went to electronics again and she told a young man who was working to come help look for this movie (keep in mind there are 4 sides to this movie rack and a big hole in the middle...literally hundreds of movies that I had already spent over 1/2 hour looking through myself). We searched high and low and couldn't find one...then just as we were standing up to admit defeat, the young man says "WAIT....HOLD UP...." and he stands up holding the movie!!!!!!! He found one that someone had shoved onto the floor behind the rack!!!! I know it is something so small and kinda "so what" but when your kid asks for so little, it makes it a huge deal....THEN today after church we went to another walmart and I found 3 of the t-shirts Lane was wanting!!!!
And thanks to my sister and her hubs, we got to go out for lunch after church with a gift certificate they gave us for our bday...sigh...
Ok, I shared all of that to say again, "seriously, isn't it amazing how much God loves me?!" I don't believe it was just chance how things played out. I don't think that it is anything less than wonderful that God provided for a desire of my heart (for my kids to have Christmas gifts under our tree). I don't think that it is any less than amazing that He continues to bless us in spite of ourselves, our doubt, our worry (and isn't that all worry is, is doubt that He can/will take care of things?), and our pride......
I just want to thank Him publically for Leigh, Karen, Marne, Erika and their blogs/sites. I thank Him for Michelle, Michael, & Cheray at Walmart...I thank Him for the birthday gifts that made shopping for the boys possible....and I thank Him for just loving me and for loving you.....

I do have a prayer request, if you are a praying woman....My mom was mowing Thursday evening (without goggles of course *rolls eyes*) and a rock flew up from under the mower and hit her directly on the pupil. Her eye lid couldn't react quick enough so it barely caught her eyelashes and hit on her open eye. At first they thought that she had detached the lens and would quite possibly lose that eye, but the next morning when she was reexamined they believe that she just seriously tore the lens and had some somewhat serious bleeding within the eye. As of this evening, she said she can see cloudy figures through it (the swelling is finally down enough for her to open it), but the pain is still severe. She goes back Tuesday for the doctor to look at it again. Please be praying that God just touches her and gives her a miraculous healing that will touch her in such a way that she can't remain so distant from Him anymore. She is only 48 and the thought of losing her vision (or the entire eye) is almost more than I think she could bear. She already suffers from depression, ocd, and just overall grumpiness ;) most days and I know that if she could just see how much God loves HER, she could overcome a lot of that (She is a Christian but doesn't really seek God out or work on growing in her faith at all). SO if you would, just pray for my momma, Juanita.
Love and hugs!!!! and remember, no matter how cliche it sounds, God really DOES love you!

Wordless Wednesday....

2008-11-05T10:21:00.003-05:00

I am not officially part of Worldless Wednesday or any of the other things like that but I do like the idea of having SOMETHING to blog about every day so I might just start making up my own...
here is for wordless wednesday...which doesn't start until AFTER I am done typing what I want to say ;)

NSBR but OMGosh I want one (or 2) of these!!!!

2008-10-31T10:22:00.001-04:00

Have you ever wanted something so bad you could taste it? Have you ever thought, "if I can't have it, I would at least like for one of my friends to be blessed with it"? That is where I am at right at this moment....
I have a confession to make...I am apronly challenged.....sigh, there I said it....
I have always loved aprons, I remember hanging on to my Mamaw's apron as she would cook on our woodstove when I was growing up (yes, that is not a typo or a joke lol), I drool over all these gorgeous retro aprons I see, but I do not own ONE apron. Honestly if we had any extra moola to spare I would have already bought one this week! Maybe it is my upcoming 32nd bday...maybe it is that I am finally at a point in my life that I savor those "domestic" things, who knows, but I am seriously jonesin' for an apron...and not just any apron....no.....I want one of the Apron Queens aprons! Sadly, or not so sadly, IF I win I would be getting the barbeque men's apron for Lane for Christmas. My "baby" boy has become quite the grilling guy! (He is 13 1/2, so I hover behind him a LOT, but he makes some killer burgers and such)....
Ok enough of the blabbering!....Would YOU like to win one of her wonderful aprons (or TWO!...or FOUR?!) Then just hop over to her blog HERE and read up on how you can! Then, hop over to the shop HERE and check out all of the aprony fabulousness that IS RickRackAttack (aprons by the apron queen)....leave her a comment, tell her I sent you (I am not beyond brown-nosing any more than she is beyond bribing ;) ), tell her what a wonderful person I am and how much I should have a new apron to start my collection, send vibes to the random number generator to pick MY number...or if you win you could just send it to me :D....or keep it yourself (but then you HAVE to promise me that you will post pics of you looking apron-queen-fabulous so that I can live vicariously through you :D)
Have a VERY Happy Halloween all!!!! I will be back later with Halloween pics!

it's a boo-tiful life :)

2008-10-28T18:17:00.004-04:00

Can you believe it..I open up my inbox this afternoon and I have a "booooo" in there...no no not a "bad" boo, Leigh from Bloggeritaville boo tagged me :D so um TAG, I'm it!

Now, this is how the Blogging Boo will work. Go to as many friends as you want and tell them they've been "Boo-ed". Have them link back to your blog to pick up their Halloween Treat (picture) and tell them to "Boo" their friends. Then, put the picture in your side bar so everyone knows that you've already been "Boo-ed" and to send the pic to someone else. So, are you scared yet!!?? BOO!!
one more time......
1. Take picture, put on sidebar
2. Tell people they have been booed
3. Link back to who booed you

now if I boo you, go forth and booooooooooo people.

I am going to "boo" these BOO-tiful bloggers
1. Kari-Relocated Dixie Girl
2 Diane- Carjazi Scraps
3. Trina- My Chaotic Life
4. Ayumills- Pink Penguin
:)

oh yeah, and I found this lil snippit on Alicia's blog...I am not sure whether to laugh at the irony or cry at the reality! :D

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-10-20T20:09:00.000-04:00

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!
Oh....My....GOODNESS.....
Ok any of you who know me, KNOW how much I love having a baby girl I love love love having my boys too! There is just something about having a lil girl that brought back so many childhood dreams and memories and many other long forgotten emotions!
One of the main things I completely LOVE is the whole "dress up" thing...with boys you get that at Halloween and that is about it...with a li'l girl ANY day is Halloween! You can always dress up, play with hair, put on makeup (lipgloss is "makeup" right?)
ANYWAY, I came across this blog the other day that has me nearly crying tears of girly joy! This artist, yes artist, there is no other way to describe her talent, creates the most gorgeous works I have ever seen! I just had to let you know about her, go to her blog and check them out....bring your hankies b/c they are truly enough to bring a tear to your eye (or at VERY least you might drool on your keyboard ;) )....
LOVE this!

another chance to win AND save money...

2008-10-12T01:18:00.003-04:00

Partly because of my addictive personality, partly because of the economy, and partly because I just can't resist a good deal, I have become excited over giveaways and money saving blogs....now I have found a blog that is all about saving money AND is having a giveaway!
It is called Stretching a Buck and she is giving away a $25 Kroger g.c. this week!!! How cool is that?!
Just click HERE for more details and your chance (or 3) to win ;)

More layouts (3..4...um FIVE from last night/today!!!)

2008-10-09T22:51:00.006-04:00

:) hello....AGAIN!
Ok I am on a scrappin' roll!!! I did 3 new ones since I last blogged...no wait, 4....um 5!
The first 4 on here are not new ones but they are ones I wanted to share b/c I loved how they turned out!!!
This one is using Kami's (Ziggle Designs) Sk8r kit! I actually thought I would only use it to scrap pics of Lane, but as you can see, it worked perfectly for Tink's pics too!

ok...now...we have to talk about this stupid online craze concerning "flair"...."flair" used to be a word used to describe (or make fun of) a certain restaurant's "bling" that their waiters/waitresses wore, am I right?
I had NO interest in it when it hit the digiscrap scene, of course one of my besties kept talking about it and showing me different pieces...they were cute but eh, what did i need with digital flair?!.....sigh, then one night, just to see if I could, I decided to make A piece of flair...just one...just to see if I could manage it from scratch....I am not a huge fan of the quirky little sayings flair pieces, but I thought "ok I MIGHT deal with a piece of photo flair"....
one pieced turned into 2...then 3...then...well you get the pic! The problem NOW is that I want a REAL button maker so I can have these in real life to pin all over the place!!!! (yes all of those pics are mine, even the butterfly ones ;) i had a very good photo day a couple months ago)

Then a site had a contest for a canon printer if you used their items that were their "deals" that week, and yep, they involved flair :P (but you had to use THEIR pieces, so these are not my layers that made up these flairs)....

I did not win, don't think I even came close or was even really in the running, but I loved the layouts none-the-less :)

NOW we are to the new layouts :)...
This first one I did with a RAK I recieved from Andrea & Jules Designs (Alice) from ZigZag Scraps :) (Alice gave the kit to Andrea to give to a lucky winner at dst), Sept. 30th would have been my papaw's 74th birthday if he were still with us and I have been missing him somethin' awful the past couple weeks...he & lane were SO close and alike in so many ways from the time lane was born (he loved all of his great grandbabies but Lane was the only one old enough to have gotten to spend much REAL time with him)...ANYWHO (before I get all teary eyed and snot nosed again), these are some pics of the 2 of them in 1997 :)...ty ty ty Andrea & Alice for RAKing me with this adorable kit! Funny Farm from Jules Designs

Then there is this simple, but oh so sweet one I did of Daniel (my nephew) & Tink...the pic was taken last summer (2007), but it looked so cute with this kit by Irene Alexeeva (um have I mentioned how much I love her work?!....This kit is available at TheDailyScrapper for a VERY limited time!!!! go grab it while you can HERE (read the article first...she is such a sweet soul!)
She is also exclusive to The Scrap Orchard, all her kits are a must have! (my bday is coming up in a few weeks...hm wonder if hubby would grant me a bday wish...like putting me on Cloud #9)
Seriously you have to go check out her store....Irene Alexeeva

Then there came this...lol
After church last Sunday, Tink wanted to pose in her good clothes for pics...As soon as I took them, I knew I had to have Shauna's (Pineapple Plantation Designs) A Girl's Best Friend kit to scrap it with, how freaking cute did this turn out?! that alpha and the bling just totally rocked this layout (even the staple has bling on it!!!!).....the journaling says (& is repeated) "Baby, it don't mean a thing if it ain't got some bling"..."A hand on your hip and one on your lip" (this is what one of her teachers says to get the kids quiet, and "miss dara" does it with as much attitude/spunk as Tink does)....and "Fashion isn't a statement, it is a way of life"....
Keep in mind that 90% of Tink's clothes come from Goodwill's 99 cent kids' clothes day lol, she has baby gap, old navy, and several other brand names from it! she LOVES going to Goodwill!!!

:) then there is this one that is out of my box (way too clean and straight compared to my normal layouts ;) ), but that I REALLY like!!! I did this one using this Apple Cart Challenge Freebee by Polkadot Plum...this is a really neat twist of a challenge! You are given a mini kit and you must use EVERYTHING in it on your layout....HERE is the A.C.C. thread, go check it out too!

And last, but definitely not least, is a layout I did for Kami's "Bring It!" challenge (title is linked so you can go play too!)...this month it is a challenge to scrap "it is the little things that matter"...
at first I had wonderful visions of Tink's tiny baby toes pics, Elijah's sweet grinning pics from when he was a toddler, and pics of Lane's precious baby curls 12 yrs ago (he didn't get hair until after his first birthday...none of my kids did lol)....then yesterday I was outside taking pics of just random fall things. We have a tree in the side yard that never turns colors until late October/early November at the earliest. As I was walking past it, a glint of red caught my eye and upon closer inspection this little leaf is what I found....the leaf is upside down compared to all the other leaves on the tree, it is the only red one, and it really stood out to me.....all of the sudden I seriously felt like God had just reached down and gathered me up in His arms and had given me a big "I love YOU, princess" hug like my husband does our daughter...it was a "little thing" that really mattered ;)....
The journaling reads:
It’s the small things that make all the difference sometimes, but in order
to witness & appreciate the small things, one must first take a minute
to refocus...a minute to reevaluate, a moment to simply quit looking
& let God reveal Himself to them.
I have never been shown a burning bush of direction,
I have never been shown a pillar of fire by night,
I have never had an arc angel visit me as I went about my day,
but God reveals Himself, His will, & His love to me on a regular basis.
On a few occasions it has been a profound, monumental moment,
but most of the time it is in a subtle, sweet, surprising whisper.
A little ray of light shining through the blinds, illuminating one of
my children’s still sleeping faces...
A soft breeze that plays through my hair like my Mamaw used to
when I was a child, reminding me of what a blessing she &
Papaw were in my life...
A giddy feeling when my husband walks
in after work, reminding me of our first dates
Or even a simple red leaf in the shape
of a heart, nestled amongst bigger, green leaves
Just a simple reminder that sometimes
God just wants me to know just how much
He loves me....yeah, it’s the little things
that make life so wonderful...

This layout was made using just a few of the items in the collab I mentioned the other day from Kami & Irene....which is NOW AVAILABLE!!!! Birdilicious is a must have!!!!
I will post some Fresh Fruit tomorrow or sometime this weekend (new stuff at the orchard comes out on Fridays) for you to feast your eyes upon ;)....until then...thanks for stoppin' by!!

Blog gift...aka "freebie" :D

2008-10-07T22:24:00.002-04:00

Back as promised (on time and all *wink*)...I tried and tried to do a preview of the li'l things I have for you but I could not do a decent preview for the life of me....soooooo it is going to be just a teenyhalloweeny mini-grabbag (mini as in 3 li'l items) :)
Just click HERE.
Have you seen the new look over at Designing Moments?! Carla has been working her butt off to make the site & store even better than it was before! Unless you have ever talked to her one on one, you have no clue how much work, heart, and love she puts into that site...
Here is the Collab available now at DM :) go have a look-see and check out the designers over there! Trust me, no tricks, just treats (as in eye candy *wink*)!

2 more layouts?!

2008-10-07T12:08:00.004-04:00

Can you believe that I actually scrapped TWO more layouts last night?! Yes TWO...and I am paying for it today since I only slept a whole 3 hours last night ;), but I absolutely LOVE how cute they turned out!
The first one I did as part of the October Element Challenge (that challenge is clickable if you are interested in joining in on the fun!) at the Scrap Orchard. I used the Spooktacular Mega Kit to make it :)...I am actually quite proud of my lil wordart I made using the elements in the kit! lol The 2nd layout is one I made using that GORGEOUS collab I was talking about last night (being on the CT definitely has some HUGE advantages!)....I told the boys I want them to let me take a bunch of pics of them so that I can do some scrapping of them too, but until that time, I will continue to scrap my li'lest pumpkin....anyway, here are those layouts and the previews of the kits they were created with!

I will be back later today with a lil something for YOU from me :)

:) finally got some scrapping done!

2008-10-06T22:13:00.003-04:00

:) I have been on the "sorta" CT at ScrapOrchard for a couple months now and I am LOVING it. The girls there are so much fun and are so super talented. I have been doing mainly commenting and such, but Kami (Ziggle Designs) has allowed me to have several of her kickin' kits in return! SO I finally got around to scrapping a couple layouts....one is using the October Mega (not part of Kami's store but for $3 for such a HUGE kit, duh pretty much a no brainer huh?), one is using a freebie from Shauna's (Pineapple Plantation) blog, and one is using the Ethan's Backyard Perfect Pair kit from Kami AND Shauna!

Credits/info:
journaling
Never the oldest, never the youngest...Too young to
do what your older brother does and too old to
act like your little sister gets to. Never quite
sure where you fit in and always trying
to find the place that
feels right to you.
I can’t wait for
the day when
you will see
that you have
already found
that place. It
is right where
you already are...
Smack dab in
the middle of my
heart...

Background paper- Duchess Designs
5 patterned papers & bling circle- Scrap Orchard October Monthly Mega!!!
tag alpha- Ziggle Designs
font- djb kennascript
flair/acrylic- mine

Credits/info:
journaling
We spent the Spring of our youth together, & the summer of our life is well into
its August. I look forward to our Autumn and await our Winter because i know
that true love stories never have an end...

:) dh & I have been together since a week before I turned 17 and he turned 19 (we have the same birthday lol)...this pic was from last year before our birthday...:)

Autumn Whisper Add-on Free"bee" by Pineapple Plantation Designs
font- djb kylie2

Credits/info:
"Today you are You,
that is truer than true.
There is no one alive
who is Youer than You..."

My youngest nephew, Daniel, on a rare day when he was letting me take a bunch of pictures of him...:)

Credit:
kit- Ethan's Backyard by Ziggle Designs & Pineapple Plantation Designs
alpha- All Taped Up by Ziggle Designs
quote- Dr. Suess
font- djb kylie2

There are SO many fabulous things going on in the Scrap Orchard shoppe right now! So many great new items (on top of the great items already there), AND now Irene Alexeeva is finally selling at the Orchard!!!! Let me tell you, this gal is UBER talented, UBER sweet, and UBER UBER generous! I have followed her blog for a few months now and LOVE LOVE LOVE everything she comes up with! Maybe some day if I am really really diligent and come up with some super layouts, I will make it on her CT *crossing fingers, wishing dust, and all that stuff*...
Anyway, her and Kami have come out with this freaking adorable kit called "Birdilicious" that you simply HAVE to be on the lookout for...I am guessing probably Friday...hm.....
Ok, here are just some of the new goodies from last Friday's Fresh Fruit at Scrap Orchard and some of Irene's absolutely GORGEOUS kits now available!!!

(I simply LOVE Kami's new kit and alpha!)

Here are my faves from Irene's new shop! (if you get a chance, stop by her blog HERE and tell her congrats on the new store! You can probably read back a bit and get to sample some of her fabulous blog gifts!)

isn't it all just too gorgeous?! So if you are lucky enough to have some cash in your paypal or if your credit card is not yet maxed, get your butt over to The Market (at Scrap Orchard) and check these out!!!!

yeah another contest link

2008-10-03T18:31:00.002-04:00

*blush* I am getting so bad about blogging like this huh...but I REALLY need a new purse (I am currently using one that I "borrowed" from Tink...it was one she wanted at a yard sale...sigh)
Now there is a great lil contest going on to win a slammin new handbag/purse....All you have to do is go HERE and sign up!!!!
The purses are really really gorgeous! So if you win, and don't want it, you can always mail it to me ;)...go sign up!
**Thanks Kari for the heads up!**

ok another plug for a chance to win :)

2008-09-30T22:13:00.001-04:00

Win a $250 Speesees organic cotton baby or toddler wardrobe from Nature's Child - Wholesome Goods for Mothers and Babies
This one is because this places clothes are hellacute!!! Go check them out!

2008-09-28T21:51:00.010-04:00

Ok...this is so photo-intensive that it isn't even funny....but all y'all know me, I can never just post one or two pics and be "ok" with it :D, but for all your time and trouble I might just have to come up with some sort of li'l blog gift this week...hm...maybe....
:) Also, these pics are not in any certain order, it is just too darn hard to arrange them on blogger and I always forget to upload them in order right.....

Here is Tink in her favorite outfit with one of her favorite "babies" (a stuffed skunk of all things lol)....

This is one of my favorite pics of her at the moment :)

on her new tire swing (shaped like a horse) that daddy hung up on her swingset for her :)

Elijah's 10th birthday party :) I thought Eli was picking his nose, but on closer inspection he is giving the peace sign...I think....he might actually be going for a double pick....hm....

The boys had been trying to act all cool by looking "gangsta" and making the "west syyyyde" sign....Tink didn't quite get the concept, she just knew they crossed a couple fingers and did something with their arms....sigh

This is her "yay I am so excited" sarcastic face :) (note the mercer mayer...i think...Little Monsters shirt! can we say "early eighties"...she picked that out at her favorite place to shop, Goodwill on 99Cent kids clothes day lol)

Lane jammin on the porch after Tink's birthday party...

lol ok, I have never claimed that my kids are not dorks.....Elijah is fabulous at proving it! This was at his birthday party...

Not sure who he was blaming or what he was blaming them for...just wanted to reiterate the whole "dork" thing....they get it from mike's side....

Elijah is ALWAYS bugging my uncle for catfish...my uncle fishes nearly every night of the week, so whenever we go to my mom's house, Elijah calls Uncle Joe and asks if he has any catfish in the freezer....so that is what he got for his birthday, approx. 5-6 lbs of catfish hahahahaha he LOVED it....

but of course, every kid's favorite gift....moolah.....

Elijah kept saying he wanted a "giant hamburger" instead of a cake....so being the wonderful mom I am (uh hum) I made him a hamburger using 3-4 lbs of beef and a hawaiian loaf bun lol...

He desperately needed a haircut at his birthday party...here he is after his cut! I love love love the way he looks with shorter hair!

For Tink's birthday she wanted to be a "REAL" princess...she wanted a crown, but at 16 bucks a pop for the cheapest, we opted for pipe cleaners and pony beads and made our own!

yes, even 4 year olds love money...and acting like dr. evil from austin powers....

Eli & Tink...:)

My li'l brother Levi (USMC) and Tink

Tink & Lane

she was excited before everyone started singing, then she just got embarrassed lol

This is her at preschool...her new teachers aide "ms dara" as Tink calls her, is James' mom (see pic following the one below)...Tink is convinced that since the first day back after the blackout was her birthday that the school hired Ms Dara (Darla) as a birthday present for her...sigh...Tink is the one tied to the 4 birthday balloons ;)

THIS is tink with James...her first true crush...she loves carson but they are just best friends...she LOVES James lol...he is one of Lane's best friends...

More Princess Birthday Pics...

This was on her actual birthday we just had a mini cake :)

Lane now plays quads in the highschool band...he is too cool for pics....

Tink on the sticky wall at church during the Kidstuff kickoff ;)

sigh, they start so young now days....

Eli rolling OFF the sticky wall ;)

watermelon....yummmmmm

finally a smiling pic of lane

tink as the big bad wolf on her birthday at school...

her actual birthday, she wanted to wear her little "crown" (her tiara that she has had for ages)

eli guzzlin' at sonic lol

ok if you have made it this far, bless your heart!....no freebie yet (hopefully by the end of the week)...
Hurricane Ike hit us HARD (yes, I live in OHIO OHIO OHIO...near Cincinnati) we had wind gusts over 80 mph! Over a million homes without electricity for DAYS (it went out on Sunday the 14th and didn't come back on at our house until the evening of Wednesday the 17th!) They projected we wouldn't have power until Saturday, but praise God, we got it back Wednesday as we were heading out the door for church. AND (praise God again) it landed smack dab between my 2 babies' birthday parties...Eli's was on the 7th, Tink's was on the 21st lol.
There was so much destruction, but blessedly we didn't experience anything more than having to spend part of the bill money on groceries that we didn't have to cook & that didn't need refridgerated. The friday before I was talking to Carla Phillips and she was warning me about the gas prices going up to near 5 dollars a gallon and stations running out (in NC) so just to be safe, I ran to the gas station to fill up the car, went back with the truch and our gas cans (thinking we would get rain and need the gas for the mower). Well we got not a drop of rain, but we have a small generator that we had to use during the Blackout so those cans of gas were a Godsend! And when the blackout occured people started panicking and as soon as ONE gas station opened up, they flocked there! Lines were hours long and gas was running out quick, yet we had 2 full tanks of gas and 3 gas cans because God loved me enough to bless me with friends who give me the "heads up" when I need it ;) LOVE YOU CARLA!
Because of our financial situation here at home, we also qualified for the disaster relief fund that was set up and now have enough groceries to last us a month! Which is a whole other blessing since mike lost a lot of work time due to the winds/blackout (he is a cable installer and they more or less get paid by what TYPE of job they do and they spent a week just rerunning lines which is the least paid job!)......so God continues to take care of us, love us, and just be blantantly caring and merciful towards us!!!...and by "us" I mean ALL of us (you included ;)...look around you, I am sure you will see how many ways you are blessed!...if not, email me, I am sure I can point a few out to you)
We are also flu-free now! (the bug "flu" around our home the entire week before the storm ugh)
hm...so how has sept been for YOU so far?!

Chance to win.....

2008-09-28T21:11:00.003-04:00

A $25 gift certificate for BellaScraps Magazine is going to be given to TWO lucky people on Holly Vanderburg's blog! (and she even gives you THREE chances to be one of those 2!!!!) :)
All you have to do for your first chance is to go post a comment HERE
Normally I don't do these kind of blogs, but I did this one for 2 reasons...
1. I would LOVE to win the g.c. and this gives me another chance....
2 (and most importantly) she is a fellow Christian, and I am always up for giving notice to a Sister's blog!

So jump on over there and leave a comment! Hurry, she is picking the winners tomorrow!!!!!

**Check back tomorrow (Monday), because I have birthday pics to show you!!! My Eli turned 10 on 9/1 and my Tink turned 4 on 9/18!!!! So I have pics pics pics!!!!!.....**

Not only that, I have a HUGE testimony to share with you!!!!

If only in my dreams.....

2008-09-11T00:19:00.022-04:00

Hello my blog buddies :) long time no blog huh? (seems to be a recurring theme with me this year :( )....Just wanted to let everyone know that I (and the young'uns and the hubb) are all alive and mostly well lol (nasty flu bug/allergies/colds)...Have all 3 kids and 2 nephews back in school so my house is much quieter during the days and much more hectic in the evenings, so I guess it all evens out in the end lol. Lane is in 8th grade this year, Eli is in 4th, and Tink is in her 2nd yr of pre-k. She and Carson are in the same class again and this year she actually likes going!!! What a difference a summer makes lol...
I wanted to announce that I will be designing again very soon :) probably not en masse but at least lil bits now and again :)
I also wanted to point out a kit that is absolutely gorgeous and goes for a good cause....Most of you know my thoughts on "charity" kits (I don't buy unless I am absolutely confident that the people involved are 100% legit). Well, I can tell you that I back this one 150%...Levi (my baby brother) spent Christmas in Iraq, and although we sent him stuff there were many in his platoon that did not get so much as a card from home saying "we love you & miss you".....so run over to The Scrap Orchard and get a headstart on your Christmas cards/layouts/gifts....or honestly this kit is versatile enough that you could do fall layouts (or any layout) with it....

This is for Kami...it was a photoscavenger hunt for "pics you already have in your stash"!.....I had every single one except a stinkin diet pepsi can!!!!! (I had to stretch a bit for the red door and the yellow car, but that was as specific as they were lol.....so i have a red CAR door and a yellow icecream car hahahahaha....most of these categories I could have posted 10 pics for (even the green hair one!)

A photo of a man in a tuxedo *hub & his best friend (mike bryant & mike bryan) at mike bryan's wedding....me & hub before my jr. prom ...wow really told my age there huh?*

A photo of a child playing in the mud *lane & elijah were in the middle of "painting" each other, that is why he is laughing so hard (b/c they got caught before they were done...they wanted to "surprise" me)

A photo of a sleeping animal **my zoe girl and my sadly missed zeker**

A photo of a VERY BAD hair day **tink last year...every day is potentially a very bad hair day with that girl**

A photo with a yellow car in it **yellow ICE CREAM cars count right?...my li'l brother and lane when lane was about 2**

A photo of someone on top of something very tall (or high) **lane & tink at the climby thing at the park.....Tink's first time on "planktons plunge" at King's Island (I have some pics from up in the eiffel tower replica there but no good ones lol)**

A photo of a serious fashion "DON'T" **my mom's cousin Sally & her hub John....hot pink sombrero....'nuff said**

A photo with a red door in it **my cousin heather & my tink...does a red CAR door count?**

A photo of someone wearing a blue dress **me from a time long ago and a memory far away :P...my jr. year homecoming dance lol**

A photo of someone with green hair **go vikings! Lane & Eli all done up for the kick off parade for their school football season back in 2003 (i think)**

A photo with at least 15 people in it **Women of Faith Conference '08, Columbus Ohio...I am pretty sure there were more than 15 people in this pic :) did you say 15 or 15000?**

A photo of someone who REALLY didn't want their picture taken **papaw's fly was down and he thought my mamaw took an "embarrassing" pic of him lol**

A photo with a diet pepsi can in it (ha!!! does anyone drink diet pepsi!?!)
A photo with a famous person in it
**my kids with the Contemporary Christian group Avalon! and my li'l sis and I with....duhhhh, Abe Lincoln (doesn't get much more famous than THAT) **

A photo with two or more people wearing matching outfits (team uniforms don't count!)
**2 of my great aunts were often dressed alike lol....that is my papaw in the back, he looked thrilled there too huh?**

**Remember today to pray for those who lost loved ones 7 yrs ago today....pray for our nation, the upcoming elections (no matter which side of the party line you will be voting from), pray for our troops, and pray for each other.....we were all changed in some way or another by those attacks, never forget it.**

ok totally quick and totally kinda random....freebie involved

2008-08-01T02:13:00.006-04:00

:D out of no where (ok out of somewhere...heh hmmmm CARLA) I find out that the Teacher's Pet challenge is open to anyone who wants to participate (it is at funky playground designs)....I find this out LATE Tuesday night....which would have been the 29th going into the 30th....
So I get a wild hair up my butt ('scuse the mental pic) and decide to give it a go...even though the deadline for the first assignment is at midnight on Thursday (yeah like 2 1/2 hours ago).....oh and did i mention in the last post that I have a 13 yr old, a 10 yr old, an almost 10 yr old, a 5 1/2 yr old, and an almost 4 yr old 11 hours of the day (3 of those i have 24/7)......crazy? me? huh? who? what?
and that I am ....OH LOOK! THERE'S MY PEN!...uh easily distracted?!
Anywho, since I know a lot of you love me....or you pretend to *raised eyebrow*.....how about you go to Funky Playground Designs (you can click the name to go there) and download my kit and leave me lots of sweet nothings and make me feel better about being so....*did I turn off the livingroom light earlier?*....oh uh distracted and ACK!
If you are not registered there you will have to register (if you want to use me as the referrer my member name there is fantacy) but trust me, there are so many awesome kits available totally free there! you don't even have to go to the shoppe and put them in a basket or anything :D....wanna see what my addition looks like?
here it is :)

:) i really don't wanna look like the smelly kid in class, help me keep face on the playground by downloading (and using) my mini kit :D....and tell your friends too! :D....

what is it with me...

2008-07-25T23:29:00.010-04:00

and 2 month blog breaks?!...sigh....
I think it is called "life"....yes that is most definitely it lol.
It is about 11:30 pm so this will be mostly pics/layouts and just a little "catch up" (no not the stuff you put on fries or what dragons glop on crispy people....)
I have been babysitting my 2 nephews for the last month or so from 6:30 a.m. (keep in mind that I am NOT a morning person) until 5:30 pm. Now, let me say that they are great kids! It is just that, as many of you know, every kid you have during the waking hours drains hours worth of energy from you....sooooooooooo ok I have a teenager (mine), that is definitely about 3 hours drain per day....my 10 yr old nephew another 3 hours....my 9 1/2, er um "almost 10" yr old son who is mr. negativity so that is about a 5 hour drain...my 5 1/2 yr old nephew who is the baby of HIS family, hm about a 3 1/2 hour drain...and my 3 1/2, er...ugh ALMOST 4 yr old daughter who is the youngest, the only girl, AND a drama queen/tomboy to boot, yeah about another 6 hours.... so um lets see, 5 plus 3 plus 3 plus 3 1/2 plus 6...hm ...that is...(hold on have to count my toes now...)
ok so I have used up about 20 1/2 hours of energy....hm....and I sleep about 5 hours per night....wow not bad, only a 15 1/2 hour deficit :) UGH is it any wonder I have not been blogging much?
I have, however, been able to take some pics, do some scrapbooking (if I blog I can't scrap and vice versa, just not enough time in the day lol) OH and I volunteered at VBS this past week....
AND I rearranged my bedroom and livingroom this week...sigh....
anyway, I will blog more later, in the meantime here are some pics and layouts that I have had over the last couple months.....just stop here if you are pressed for time ;)....
all credits can be found in my gallery at DST (here)...and believe it or not these are not all of the layouts I have done for june/july lol.....ok the pics will wait for another day (or another post) b/c I didn't realize how many layouts I did these last 2-2 1/2 months!

^^ my nephews at Virginia Beach this past May (i believe)

^^Tink walkin down the driveway...when her hair is wet/straight it reaches her waist lol ...this gorgeous kit was given to me by sweet miss Pamela Gibson (papers and alpha)...the crown was a RAK from Tangie Baxter :) and the wings are mine

^^ :) one of my new fave pics of Tink, and another fabulous kit from Pamela Gibson...

^^Malachi feeling the need to be part of the family during a card game

^^ Lane doing what he loves most :)

^^Tink in the back yard on a rare day when she was feeling quiet and contemplative...the journaling around the edge is one of my favorite quotes...." Suddenly, through birthing a daughter, a woman finds herself face to face not only with an infant, a little girl, a woman-to-be, but also with her own unresolved conflicts from the past and her hopes and dreams for the future.... As though experiencing an earthquake, mothers of daughters may find their lives shifted, their deep feelings unearthed, the balance struck in all relationships once again off kilter."

Chase & Elijah back in 2003 lol i just love this pic of them and it fit so well with Pat Christensen's doodley kit...

Lane used to pick big bouquets of roadside TigerWillies (as he called them) for me when he was little...he is wearing my mamaw's "chef hat" b/c we had just picked her up from work lol...i miss those days....

:) pics of my 3 over the years :)

my 3 back in Oct. of '06...i love that pic of them :)

Lane in Jan. of '07....he is so handsome.....sigh....

my sweet tink when she was just a couple days old...

tink & her best friend carson....journaling can be found here

i love this kit by ziggle designs! and i love the pic of tink taken on memorial day (eve) lol

the many faces of tink :)

my beautiful tink....

i just love everything about this layout, from their goofy faces to the memories held in that background...

another using that ziggle designs "star spangled" kit

this adorable lil kit was RAK'ed to me from sweet amy sumrall, who is now proudly selling at Sunshine Studio Scraps (woo hoo go amy!)

:) this is actually the front of a 4x4 card :) (well 4x8 before you fold it)...that pic of tink cracks me up...

a weeds and wildflowers challenge i did

i love this pic of tink and the colors of sweet miss carla's kits matched it perfectly!

yes, i have even been scrapping older pics :) and yes some of the boys' pics lol

another kit RAK, this one from Jennifer Barnette (i think)...the kit is super cute and matched this pic perfectly :)

a RAK kit from Krystal Hartley, isn't it gorgeous?! oh yeah, and these are the 2 nephews i was talking about :)

*sniffle* my lil tinker when she was less than 2 weeks old....this cute lil kit was a RAK from darling sweets, Jen Riggins

my precious boys back in 2000...sigh....sometimes i miss them being that little.....

well bless you if you made it this far lol, i really will try to give a good ol' fashioned update and chit chat next time...had a couple huge blessings happen and a couple very big hurts these past couple of months.....yet through it all God is always so good to me, can you believe He loves me that much?!

2 months?!

2008-05-12T09:45:00.003-04:00

Is it possible that 2 months...yes TWO MONTHS?! has passed since I last revived my poor neglected blog?! sigh, alas I fell into that horrid trap that is known as "real life" and simply did not have the energy or motivation to blog.....BUT (insert mental pic of a rosy lil bum/butt/bottom/buttock/seat/rear/where-the-good-Lord-split-ya).....
I am back and have SO many things to catch everyone up on :D
First off, I miss my few faithful blog readers immensely! (that is a big reason I am back)
2ndly, I am no longer designing for any stores :)...there are a couple reasons, but one main one is that I would rather make a freebie and 1000 people d/l it and enjoy it, than to make a kit for sale and only 3 people buy it....it was too disheartening and I don't have the thick exterior (although I have a thick POSTERIOR) to handle not being a big time seller...besides that, "having" to have a certain amount done each week really put a big ol' clamp on my creativity :(....
So I am back to blog freebies when I feel the urge to design. :)
I have, however, found how much I enjoy creating using other people's kits! Being on the CT at Treasures to Scrap . com (www.treasurestoscrap.com) and taking part in the Amazing Digi Scrap Race 3 really have taught me a lot about my style and about how to manage scrapping AND having a life away from the computer lol.
Finally, I am going to work on sharing some of my thoughts and such on life, love, mothering, wifing...um wifery...uh...being a wife and what it means to me through my faith. Now, before I even post the first thing about this subject remember it is NOT something I am saying YOU have to do, just sharing some of the things that help me keep my sanity. And for those of you who say "well you have never had to put up with what I have had to...." or "well you would think differently if YOU had this or that happen".....chances are I have been there AND done that AND had that done to me, so before you think that I am speaking of what I do not know, ask me. Don't send angry letters full of women's lib battle cries, they will most likely fall on deaf ears.

Wow, a lot has happened in the last 2 months! As many of you know, I am not an honest to goodness, stressed out, worry wart, constant praying mother of a teenager now. I do not know why, but I promise, the day the boy turned 13 I sprouted a cluster of white hairs (I am a redhead, we go white not gray ;)....or at least that is my story and I am sticking to it lol. For you more experienced moms of teens, how do you do it?! Any advice, comments, condolences are welcome....**sidenote** he did get his hair cut the night before his 13th birthday :) I thought I hated his long hair (and I did sort of...I mean I did if he wasn't wearing a hat), but part of me wishes it were back now lol sigh oh well....
My 9 1/2 yr old boy has recently made me feel VERY bipolar...one minute wanting to throttle him, the next bursting with the warm fuzzies over how smart and gentle and kind he can be...He is really wishing for summer vacation lol. He did choose to join baseball again this year :) and is on a really good team. He doesn't get to play every inning, but he does get to play every game which is more than I can say for other sports we have participated in. His daddy has taken him to every practice and been at every game so far except one (he was working).
Then there is "the girl"....the petite, sweet, darling, adorable, ....wait I must have been thinking about some other lil girl :D..... just kidding, Tink is all those things just not all those things at once. If her toddler/preschool years are any indication of things to come, go on and set up my room at the mental ward :) She is finally coming out of her shell at school and learning so much. They claim she is quiet and reserved and still a bit shy...I think they fib on her behalf. She is counting in English, Spanish, and counting to 3 in chinese (she would like to count higher but Kai'lan has only taught up to 3 so far ;) ). She is once again gravitating towards being a momma's girl now that daddy is working full time again, but you can tell when he gets home that a big part of her will always belong only to her daddy...
As for daddy....lol have I mentioned how much I love my man? I am not saying we do not have our quarrels, or that he does not make my blood boil and my redheadedness nearly outweigh my will to be a godly wife sometimes, but simply put, I am madly in love with him in a way and to a degree I never thought would ever be possible. For Mother's Day (which started off horridly for me), he came in during church and sat with me in the nursery (it was my Sunday to have nursery duty) even though I only had 3 babies to watch. For some of you this might not mean much, but Mike only likes lil ones from a distance normally....I mean he LIKES them, but will not usually volunteer to put himself in the midst of them unless guilted into it (which I did not do). Then he offered to take us to lunch/supper at any restaurant I wanted to go to....then he let me spend time uninterrupted on the computer or doing whatever I felt like (even just laying around)...But more than all that, he has really become a man who lets God lead (most of the time, and we are praying about the times he doesn't....we=ME) lol and THAT ladies (and gentlemen if I have any of those who read this) is unbelievably sexy and attractive in a man! Mmm-Mmm_Mmm give me a man who follows after God's heart and you have given me something to swoon over for eternity.
Now, as for me....I have started reading "Power of a Praying Wife" again, but this time with an accountability partner. Last time I read it completely through, Mike and I were separated with little to no hope of reconciliation. It is so weird to read the notes I wrote in the margins and see how absolutely far God has brought us in the last year and a half or so....and it is so amazing how different the book feels reading it from this perspective! Sharyn and I have decided to study one chapter a WEEK!!! yes WEEK! so that we can get into it in a way that wouldn't be possible by reading a chapter a day. Each day we read the chapter and pray about it in a different way and then at the end of the week we are going to get together online and discuss it (we are also keeping personal journals and such to help us focus on what we are reading). If any of you are interested in going through that book with me also, let me know! You can get the book for less than $10 at Walmart (or any bookstore...but not sure the price elsewhere)! Even if you are not "madly in love with" your hubby (ESPECIALLY if you aren't) this book is AMAZING and you will see changes when you start reading it and applying it to YOUR life. Remember, when I read it the first time we were separated and were in relationships with other people (foreseeing nothing but demise to our marriage). Finally I am going to tell all y'all something that I am not going to tell anyone here at home (or my friends I see in person). I am starting (today) on a journey to get healthy. That I know of, none of my family reads my blog here, they have no interest in scrapbooking and assume that is all I do on here I think. But I am going to revamp, revise, renew, and reinvent my blog/blogs to track my progress....I want to reduce my weight by nearly 100 lbs total, and plan on having 20 off by the end of summer. I want to be able to use the Strider Experience machine for 5 miles without getting completely out of breath and weak-kneed by that time. I want to be consistently making it to the YMCA 5 days a week for strength training and the Strider (it is eliptical meets stair climber meets torture device lol). AND I want to feel comfortable physically again....anyone with me on this one?! If I get a few people on board, I would like to start a separate blog just for us....only serious inquiries need apply lol.
Ok to finish off today I have a photo riddle for you....and a challenge.
Look at the photo (which is horrid by the way, and no i don't normally walk around with 2 nails painted and 3 not but oh well) and figure out what one word this photo represents....THEN go take a photo of something that word means....yeah I didn't explain well, but when you figure out what word I am trying to convey in this photo, go take a pic of it and post it on your blog or in a gallery or just email it to me, then come back here (without giving away the word) and link me up to your post! Just thought it might be a fun way to start the week :D I will post the answer to the riddle next Monday :)

Easter.....Resurrection Cookies

2008-03-19T00:03:00.005-04:00

Ok here is the Easter project I was talking about in my last post. They are called Resurrection Cookies. Many of you have probably already heard of them. I got them in an email about 5 years ago (or more), and we have done them every year since. BUT in case you haven't heard of them, or forgot about them, or forgot where your recipe is *smiles...like any of us would ever do that?!* I am posting it here for you :)...It is a great object lesson for your kids, and a way to focus on the sacrifice that Jesus made for us...my kids are 13, 9.5, and 3.5 yrs old and they all enjoy (and learn) from making these...

Ingredients:
1 c. whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1 c. sugar

You will also need:
Bible
re-sealable baggie
wooden spoon
mixing bowl
electic mixer
cookie sheet
waxed paper
tape

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.
Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.
Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life so that we could have life. Read John 10:10-11.
Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers. Read Luke 23:27.
So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.
Beat with a mixer on high speed for several minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.
Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.
Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.
GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20-22.
On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! Explain how the tomb was empty on the first Easter because Christ had risen from the dead! Read Matthew 28:1-9.

Of course you can go into as much or as little detail about the parts as you want. If your kids are like mine, this opens up a huge arena for discussion and questions...."do you think the vinegar helped Jesus not be thirsty?" (me) "no i think he probably puked! i might!" (elijah)....."how big was the tomb?" (elijah...yes he is my questioner) "it was big, like a small cave, big enough to put Jesus' body in at least" (me, i need to research BEFORE we make cookies) "really?....that must have taken a LOT of tape to hold that big rock in place" (elijah after we "sealed" our cookies in).....
Granted those are examples of my Elijah's questions, but Lane (and elijah from time to time) really have asked some hard questions and made some heart wrenching observations during our cookie time too...."I bet his mom just wanted to climb up there and take him down and hold him...i bet that is what you would do huh mom?" (lane) "yeah and give the soldiers a knuckle sandwich for lunch when they gave him vinegar to drink when he was thirsty! you woulda given them a fat lip for bein a knothead" (yep, elijah)......."how could he forgive them mom? i don't think i could, shoot i can't forgive eli sometimes and he just breaks my toys!" (lane).....

Well you get the idea.....We will be out of town this weekend so please be praying for us. We are going to celebrate my great-aunt's 70th birthday (she won't be 70 until next month, but we are having the party this month)...she is like a surrogate Mamaw to me since my Mamaw passed away...she is who one of Tink's middle names comes from (JoEtta) she is my great-Aunt Joan Etta...she is a true and faithful servant if there ever was one ;) and I feel so blessed to get to spend any time with her that I can :)....please pray for traveling grace and mercy for us :)

Ok, like you guys aren't sick of my multi-photo/multi-layout posts, but I can't help myself, I just adore my young'uns and my hubby and my nephews and my siblings and my parents...need i go on? Anyway here are my 3 newest layouts :)

my sweet li'l tink at 4 days old :)

(credits: monica larsen's Strawberry Dreams kit, font- Darcy Baldwin's Emilys)

This was another for the ADSR3 and I really really like it :)...the kit completely rocks and was the PERFECT shade/colors to go with Lumpy....the challenge was to interview an inanimate object (as in a car, key, phone, shoe....not as in "your race partner's youth" or "your once pierced tongue"....um not like I would ever think of interviewing those things for a race layout...i mean i am just guessing those might be ideas...yeah...um..that's my story and I'm sticking to it). ANYWAY....we had to interview them with at least 4 questions with answers...needless to say I was running short on ideas :)....but Lumpy has scared away plenty of "spookables" and been dragged through it all from dirt to mud to syrup to honey to mashed potatoes....he is one of Tink's most beloved friends....here is the journaling/interview....
"So Lumpy, I just want to thank you for taking time out of your schedule to be here"....
"No problem, you don't happen to have any snicker-doodles do you? I love snicker-doodles."...
"*sigh* I am sorry hun, I don't. Is there anything else you would like? Some honey perhaps?"...
No...No thank you...I don't like honey so much...last time Tink gave me honey, you threw me in that washer-go-round...ugh, talk about the room spinning"...
"Ah yes...I forgot that Tink got honey all over your trunk...speaking of Tink, I want to know how you do it?! I mean, it must be hard being the best friend to such a diva! What keeps you going?"
"The smiles...& the snuggles, she is, like you said, my best pal, so it all evens out..."
"Do you think you will ever tire of being the most favored Lumpy of her collection?"
"Never...never ever..."
You wanna run to the school to get her? Preschool is letting out for the day..."
"Yes...of course!"

**and I just remembered as I was reading the journaling, Lumpy like RUMPLE-doodles...sigh...will this momma ever get it right?! I should have asked Tink....**

(credits: This kit is so freakin' awesome...it is by Carla Phillips click HERE for it...or you can find it at gottapixel.net...it is called "Li'l Miss Jas" and it is just fabulous!.....and the fonts are my faves...they are by Darcy Baldwin...Emilys and Lorraine)

and finally a new fave of mine..this layout took 30 min start to finish....that is how awesome this kit is....it practically DID the layout for me!

(credits: Joanne Bain/Doin' It Digi Designs Forest Garden kit available at TreasuresToScrap.com)

My baby turns 13......

2008-03-12T23:58:00.007-04:00

Sigh...'tis a bittersweet day for this Momma....13 years ago today I was in a hospital, bringin' my first baby into this world at age 18....I can remember so much of it like it happened only a week ago, yet so very much of the past 13 years seems like a blur!
March 13th, 1995 Mike and I welcomed Michael Aaron Lane into this scary big ol' world, and for a few moments the whole world rested on my chest in the form of a chubby, wrinkled, crying baby boy....
He came into this world several weeks early (I was not quite 35 weeks along), but was as big as most full term babies. Weighing in at 8lbs 1oz and around 21.5 inches long lol...they suspected that I was gestational diabetic and the glucose test early on didn't catch it....
He was the most gorgeous thing I think I had ever seen. Mike and I had no clue how to "be" parents....I was not yet out of high school and mike (20 yrs old at the time) worked his butt off at Arby's for not much more than minimum wage, yet none of that made any difference that day....
Lane was extremely jaundice and we spent our first week at the hospital. They kept sending us home, his eyes would darken to a gross yellow and back to the hospital we would trot to have him put back under the bili lights....a few months before Lane was born, a local family had lost their 9 yr old son and his 10 yr old friend, and her 2 other boys were in critical condition after being serious car wreck involving a train, his mom happened to be one of the nurses who attended to Lane during his hospital stay. I remember one night as she came to check on this little patient, she asked me how I was feeling (I had went to school with the oldest son, and my baby brother had played ball with the other 3 boys involved....the 2 that died were friends of my brother's). When she asked how I was, I broke down in tears, going on and on about how I didn't know HOW to be a mom and didn't understand why my baby couldn't just go home with me where we could start our life as a family (keep in mind I was a scared young mom who had not slept well in days). She sat down with me and we began talking. We talked about Ezra (her 9 yr old son), we talked about Beau (her son who was near my age), we talked about so much....but one thing she said I never forgot was "none of us go in to this KNOWING how to be a parent....but somehow God allows us, through trial and error and a lot of sleepless nights, to be the parents we are supposed to be...the parents we are meant to be....for however long He sees fit to loan our kids to us"
That has stuck with me for 13 yrs now, and even as I am blogging this, I love her for being so kind and brave. Even in the midst of what had to be unshakable grief and pain for the child she had lost and the 2 who were still not home with her, she reached out and comforted a silly 18 year old girl who was upset over too little sleep and something as common and treatable as jaundice.....
So, I want to publicly thank Mrs. Walters for her wisdom and compassion.
Even more than that I want to thank God for loaning this wonderful child to me for the last 13 years....I saw a quote the other day in a piece of word art (no name on the file I saved so do not know which blog I saw it on...i BELIEVE it was elegant word art by Bethany *smiles*) that said "It used to be that I could look at you and see traces of the baby you once were. Now I look at you and instead catch glimpses of the Man you will become..." Truer words were never spoke :)....so Happy Birthday Lane....My not-so-little boy....

(credits-all items from Peta Boardman aka Scrappin' Nut's Good Old Years kit)

Ok, now, just because I want to let everyone see some of the gorgeous stuff available at Treasures to Scrap.com and also some things I have gathered from the wonderful blogs of my fellow scrappers/designers, here are a ton of layouts! All credits can be found in my gallery at TTS ...

(credits- Rina Kroe's Liberty kit :) )

(credits- the February Treasure Chest kit from TTS)

I am NOT a journal-er.....I struggle with it every time! It is so funny b/c I am great at relating stories, events, and memories....but to put them on a layout just throws me for a loop! But this set of pictures just BEGGED to have a story go with them so here it is (so you don't have to squint to see what it says on the layout lol)
Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess named Chloe. She was kind and compassionate and adored by all her subjects.
Every day she would sit upon her throne, hoping
that she could take the next step in becoming a queen that her people could be proud of and look up to. Yet, every day as she sat there, nothing would happen.
Often she wondered if, perhaps, a witch had put a spell on her...But she had no evil step-mother, she owed no debt
to any horrid elf or troll, and she had not pricked her finger on any
spindle, nor eaten any poisoned apple, so surely bewitchment was not the problem...
So many times she simply wanted to just give up and admit
defeat, but she knew that if she just kept on trying that eventually she had to succeed!
Then, one day as she sat on her throne, it happened!!!
She had succeeded in fulfilling her royal duty!
She had used the potty like a big girl!
The entire kingdom rejoiced Her subjects clapped and sang
and rejoiced with their beloved princess...
~the end~

(credits- Dawn Inskip's Land of Make Believe kit)

(credits- Fabella's Country Love kit)

The next 2 are what my 2 youngest took to school for Valentines Day)
Chloe's cute little card :) I was so happy to find a fitting Bible verse for her card...1 Cor. 13:13 (it is in the bottom corner of her card) says "...and the greatest of these is love"....so we were able to use her card as a witnessing experience also :)
the credits are very long and can be viewed at my TTS gallery

and Elijah's not-so-cute-but-oh-so-Eli card...it reads "For Valentine's Day this year, I picked up some nice fresh "tootsie rolls" for you (just don't ask where I picked them up from)...Happy Valentine's Day from Elijah (& his dog)"..... (credits-Dawn Inskips Pets element kit)

(credits- fotosusu's Christmas Dreams kit & Robin Blankenship aka MadScrapper's Letter Maps)

ok the story behind this one is that I commented on a very darling designer's thread at DST and WON this kit :)...then we had a challenge for the Amazing Digi Scrap Race 3 to scrap about part of our daily routine...well part of our routine (mine and Tink's...um Chloe's lol) is to sing while I fix her hair...and we sing before bed....and this is one of our favorite songs...
It is "Pretty Irish Girl" from the movie Darby O'Gill and the Little People...sigh a young Sean Connery sings it more than once in the movie...sigh...sigh....siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh

(credits- Dale Ann Cubbage aka dc designs' Bonnie Lass kit)

(credits- Robin Blankenship aka Mad Scrapper Designs' Wendi's World kit)

Below is a layered ribbon tag that Dawn McDowell taught us how to make during a chat at TTS...I was SO intimidated b/c I was one of the only digi girls at the chat...but Dawn had already thought of us and made a nice little template for us to use and walked us through the steps :)...so while it is not quite as gorgeous as pics of the paper scrapped versions, I REALLY loved the technique and the outcome!

(credits- Deanna Patterson's Playful kit....template by Dawn McDowell)

This one was for another ADSR3 challenge (number 4 to be exact) where we were instructed to "spill it"...we had to use a LARGE pic and journal at least 1/4 of the page...what is up with this journaling stuff?! and isn't my hubby the cutest?! anyway here was mine and it reads:
Ok, here it is, I am spillin’ the beans on something that I am only going to admit
one time and one time only....This man drives me absolutely bat crap crazy!
His name is Mike, yep cute irresistable, adorable, plain ol’ Mike..
After being together for over 14 years, married 13 of those, and having 3 kids & our fair share of flat out hard times, you would think I’d be able to resist his goofy grin & big brown eyes (which are that way because he really is just full of it),
but I can’t! Sometimes just seeing him walk in the room sets my heart a flutter & my mind racing along with my pulse! What is this spell he has over me?! How does he do it?! It is maddening! Will I ever “outgrow” this twitterpation?! ...sigh...
Do I ever really want to?

(credits can be found at my TTS gallery)

This is another ADSR3 layout...we each had to create 1/2 of a layout...it could be side to side, top and bottom, checkered...as long as each person did 1/2 of it....Miranda and I (goobs that we are) decided to do it like those "flip over" books....each of us posted it with our side upright...but of course mine is the RIGHT way ;)....isn't Miranda just a doll?! she looks that good only a year after giving birth to one of the cutest little boys EVER (yes I could just eat Nathan up lol)
the journaling and the credits can be found in my TTS gallery.....it basically explains how we became known as the Scrapbrats.....

Another of Tink's favorite songs is "Little Bunny FooFoo" and I had these pics of her in her bunny costume last Easter that were begging to be scrapped....

(credits- template by Fabella and kit used is Playful by Deanna Patterson)

rarely do I get a great pic of Elijah that I just melt over....he doesn't like to sincerely smile...he is always on the move....but I finally got THAT ONE PIC I wanted so I scrapped it....
journaling can be read in my TTS gallery....

(credits- March Treasure Chest kit)

Seriously girls (and guys) you should check out the treasure chest kits at www.treasurestoscrap.com they are made by some of the fabulous designers there....

Anyway, sometime in the next day or two I will be posting a wonderful Easter project to do with your kids....so be sure to check back :)

who all is in the ADSR 3?!

2008-02-27T12:44:00.004-05:00

Just curious as to who all is in the Amazing DigiScrap Race Season 3?! I would love to know your ID and team name so that I can comment on your layouts and such! I am on The ScrapBrats team with mirandalea :)...seems that the entire digi-world is involved!
here is my layout for challenge 1..the rules were to use the provided template (can be seen at digital scrapbooking classes), use your favorite color, use pics of your favorite person to scrapbook (i couldn't choose one of the 3 so I used all 3), and use your favorite element 3 times on your layout...here is my result :) if you want to leave a comment on it or see the credits, click the image and it will take you to the ADSR gallery :)

then (almost by accident while trying to explain something to a friend) I popped a different paper on the layout and got a TOTALLY different, but equally great look!!! I loved the way the yello brought out the bright colors of the photos and added a sense of fun to the overall layout!
*moral of the story: change your outlook, make it brighter, add some dots and woot! you have something fun! :) * The only difference in the credits on this one is that the background paper is by happy scrap :)...the vellum behind the journaling is my own

** I am also asking for just an overall prayer for all those who have lost someone in the last few weeks...my dear friend Carla lost her cousin, my dad lost his dad, sara's oldest son lost his dad, I just heard that amy sumerall lost her dad, a friend (Tina) of a very dear friend (Tracy/5angels) lost her mom....it just seems to be a season for passings and for those of us left, it is such a struggle to understand or to come to grips with.....so for those who have lost someone, I am praying for you....for those who haven't, make sure to thank God and pray for those who have :) **

WARNING....tons of pics!!!

2008-02-25T11:30:00.010-05:00

The other day we decided to go sledding at a local hill. This is the first snow/ice that we have had all year that has stayed around more than a day or two. Thus starts our story...... :)

Poor Tink...so young...so naive...so trusting as she climbs into the sled with daddy...

her first time sledding that she can remember and THIS is the result...that is her little foot at the top of the sled and her little pink glove under daddy's leg (look near his knee).....

As you can tell, she was not happy about being rolled...she was not happy about losing her hat...and she was NOT happy about sledding with daddy....

Lane reminded me of Frosty the Snowman in all of his tummy pics lol "and he was the best belly whopper around"...I love seeing my "almost teen" laughing and enjoying something he has enjoyed forever :)

Elijah loves being dramatic, trust me there was not enough momentum in those 2 feet of hill to make him roll, but he managed it anyway ;)

She loves making faces...she definitely loves it more than flipping down the hill :)

you can barely see it, but elijah is on the OTHER side of daddy in this one...I really think Mike rolls these babies on purpose so that they won't want to sled with him so he can have the sled all to himself!

Tink once again gave in and rode down with daddy....trick me once shame on you, trick me twice shame on me....this was the last time she would agree to get on the sled with him that day lol

This is her reaction when we tried to convince her to go back up the hill with daddy...she was having none of it!

Notice when he goes it alone he doesn't roll...hm.....coincidence? i think NOT!

There is a fine line between fear and fun, dread and glee! Elijah makes this face almost every time he goes down the hill lol but he said he wsa loving it...go figure!

Lane doin' the Frosty bellywhooper again :)

Tink was afraid we were going to make her go down in the sled again so she was NOT going to smile lol

oh look! a tink sized sled! (aka a lunch tray)

there is that look again, the one he says is a look of unadulterated joy....hm

Mike must have been having a LOT of fun according to that face :)

Lane is almost as big as daddy, but he couldn't let Elijah get to do something first....

She wouldn't let daddy on her "sled" but she would let him give her a boost (she was only about 1/3 of the way up the hill lol)

ok THAT looks like a blast :D

just enjoyin time with daddy

all has been forgiven, and she is daddy's girl again :)

there is that face again ;)

this one turned out blurry :( but I still loved that you could see how much fun they were having!

she loved going down the hill on her own!

:) looks like she threw daddy off that time :D

another run! go tink!!!

still going.....

finally stopped! and you can tell she was happy with herself and with sledding!

it started sleeting/raining/freezing raining so we had to go home...daddy got her a snack of applesauce and saltine crackers....

she found baby lumpy and was asleep in no time flat....

:) I will have a few layouts up tomorrow hopefully, and maybe (big maybe) a freebie soon......seems like every time I make a freebie there is either something wrong with what day I post it on, who can or can't use it, or how long I leave it up... lol

Response to "the Tagger"...

2008-02-15T13:14:00.003-05:00

I got on 4shared today to see how many downloads the last freebie had and wanted to see what comments were left...yes yes, I am a comment freak, i LOVE comments (good or CONSTRUCTIVELY criticizing) because sometimes they help me better my products or sometimes they just make me feel good to know that you guys like something I made....
Well in my 4 shared comments the following was left by "Tagger"....
"Well in searching for a scrap kit to make tags with I found this but your TOU is not letting us use it to make tags.

HOPE EVERYONE REALIZES WHAT A SNOB YOU ARE.

Making tags does not mean we are taking credit away from you."

In response to "tagger" (whomever he or she may be), I am sorry you feel that I am a snob. I assure you (and anyone who has taken more than 2 seconds to contact me could probably assure you) I am not a snob. This is something I probably shouldn't even be addressing, seeings how you did not email me or even comment in a way I can respond. In my TOU it says no commercial use including tags...this is because I have had people steal my stuff, call it there own and make tags using it (claiming they make the items they use in their tags).....HOWEVER, if you would have read the line in my TOU a couple lines before that it says that IF IF IF you contact me, I will consider it on a case by case basis....it is called common courtesy to ask a designer (of ANYTYING, not just scrapbooking) for their permission to use something they created for something that might make YOU a profit.....

There is a fabulous site that is geared toward taggers. It is DesignsByHelly (http://designsbyhelly.blogspot.com/)...I love her grunge and full forward effect of her designs!
But you know what? If you use her designs GIVE HER CREDIT and maybe she won't have to start restricting who can use what....and next time, email me because believe it or not, I have *gasp* actually okayed use for things that were "off limits" simply because someone took the time to ask.

I have to wonder if people feel "ok" to make such generalizations without making some effort to get to know a person in real life? Or it is just a case of people running from site to site snagging freebies and who normally wouldn't have commented in a nice way? BUT I will say, and I want everyone to hear this, thank you "tagger" for actually READING my TOU...just for that I would have given you use of my freebie provided you weren't making a profit from it.

I hope this did not come across as being rude or "snobbish" in itself, I guess I just felt the need to address that someone felt shortchanged or hurt by something of my doing :(

2 posts in 2 days with 2 different freebies?!

2008-02-06T21:08:00.000-05:00

Doesn't seem possible, I know...I know.....
But after seeing Kim B's rockin' color challenge at DSO I had to do SOMETHING and I have been in quite a funk so I wasn't sure how it would turn out....but I did it, I created a little mini kit and have decided to give it to anyone who happens to still be reading my neglected little blog lol.
I also have some good news :)!...Miranda (mirandalea) and I are officially signed up for the ADSR (amazing digi scrap race)! We are The Scrap Brats :) (any of you who know me from my days hanging out at SBB know that the honorable mantle of Scrapbrat was bestowed upon me from the ORIGINAL scrapbrat).....
I am looking forward to it but I am SO SO SO nervous!
Anyway, click on the image to get your freebie (if 4shared is playing nice at the moment *ugh*) and check back here tomorrow or the next day for some updates on this funny lil thing I call "my life"....
Oh yes, if you had emailed me last month with the answer (if you emailed me you will know what I mean anyway) and I did NOT email you yesterday please email me again and let me know :) so that I can get you a little something :)
**The frame and heart elements are separate, they are not stuck together like it looks on the preview...also the red smudge behind my name is an element also**

A quick freebie & a question :)

2008-02-05T15:54:00.000-05:00

:) Hey all :)
I have a quick "Oops" paper pack for you as a freebie and I question....
What kind of freebies do you like best?! Quick Pages, Templates, Papers, Word art?!
Let me know because I have a LOT of files I am going to be going through and a LOT of designing in the works and I would love to give you all what you want!
I have seen several brag book quick pages where you get one or two a day until you have enough to fill a brag book...would you like something like that?
OAKS is now officially closed :( for those of who didn't know, so you can find me at www.treasurestoscrap.com and www.designing-moments.net and I will be participating in World Scrapping Tour http://worldscrappingtour.freeforums.org/viewforum.php?f=54

Anyway, here is your freebie for now...those of you who emailed me, check your emails, I will have a gift for you there before the day is out. Click on the image to download :)

An Announcement & a Sale!!!!

2008-01-23T21:05:00.000-05:00

:) oh my beloved blog readers (if there are any of you left)....
I am SO sorry for the delay in your freebies (they are coming still I promise!) and for those who emailed me I still have your names so you will be getting the extra one!
BUT I have to make an announcement or I am going to BUST.....
I am now.....
as of this past week....
as in a few days ago......
a full fledged member of the Treasures to Scrap Creative Team AND Design Team!!!!!!!
As part of the Creative Team, I will be helping host chats and challenges again, so PLEASE come play, it is so much more fun when my friends are there to play with! ;)

As many of you know, One of a Kind Scrapz is closing up shop as of Jan 31st :(....sooooooooooo I will no longer be there. I am still proudly at Designing-Moments.net though :D and will be working to get my schedule situated in such a way I will be putting new product up there and at Treasures to Scrap.....

Ok, now for the sale!
At all 3 of my current stores all my products are 50% off!!!! The only catch is that they are only at that price until January 31st!!!!! so that gives you one week to grab what you can at 1/2 off before the prices go back up!
here are the links to my stores......
OAKS-
http://www.oneofakindscrapz.com/store/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=39

Designing-Moments.net -
http://www.designing-moments.net/shoppe/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=9&zenid=0172d7b2216132b0570c6bfc26a35ee0

and Treasures to Scrap-
http://digistore.treasurestoscrap.com/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=33&zenid=7a1bc04594d87e590f63aa0ab2aaedb0

Christmas & Raggedy Pics

2007-12-30T23:35:00.000-05:00

:) Hope everyone had a chance to visit De's Raggedy Ann blog :)
I just wanted to share some pics from last month that really bring to my mind the meaning of Christmas and Winter :) and of course the pics of Tink & I's first Raggedy Ann doll :)

I love this pic b/c this is something I see at least a few times a week. Yes they are both sound asleep...Yes that is a paci in Tink's mouth....No, i make no apologies for that fact.....Yes, this melts my heart every time I witness it :)
She loves her daddy so much, and vice versa :D
She has him wrapped around her finger even more than he has her wrapped up in his arms :)

We had a pretty good little snow storm just a few days before Christmas break, but as is so often the case in ohio it snowed great (perfect snowman snow!), then the day heated up and it rained and washed the snow away and turned it to mud, then it froze again that night making the roads a pain in the butt!......and Tink had a cold so she couldn't go out and play in the snow, so I went out and made a little snowman to put on the front porch right outside the window so she could see him from the couch :)....this also protected him from the rain that day, so he was around for the whole day or two :)

While she wasn't feeling the greatest we decided to straighten her hair :)....if you look at other pics of her, she appears to have barely shoulder length hair b/c of the curl in it....lol it is halfway down her back!!!!...I am so happy she has curly hair though; I love it much more on her than straight hair :) (as you can tell I can't part her hair when it is straight so it looks like she has a bald spot....trust me, she doesn't lol)

Here is another one of her and daddy :) he is making a goofy face but in his defense he was a bit under the weather too (we were all fighting a nasty cold)...I just like this pic b/c it shows how different (and grown up) she looks with straight hair....

This year, as I said in my last blog post, Tink finally got the nerve to sit on Santa's lap :)...she almost chickened out, but mustered her courage at the last minute and was SO proud of herself :)....we tried to get the boys to be in this pic but they weren't havin' it....all she asked Santa for was a doll and some candy LOL sigh, if only it stayed that easy :)

My 3 gorgeous young'uns Christmas Eve at my Mom & Dad's house :) Every year we get new pajamas on Christmas Eve (the ONE and ONLY gift we are allowed to open on Christmas Eve). By "we" I mean EVERYONE who is at my mom's that night. We have done this for as long as I have been alive (i think it started with my mamaw and papaw when my mom was little). When I was little it was a case of we didn't get new clothes a lot or new pajamas. There just wasn't the money to splurge on stuff. At Christmas we also didn't get a bunch of store bought stuff, Papaw would carve us something, Mamaw would make us stuff, but EVERY year EVERYONE got a new pair of pajamas so that we looked fresh and bright opening gifts :D.....the tradition has just carried on and I wouldn't change it for the world. When we get to my mom's on Christmas Eve, everyone gets their pajama's on and then one or two of the adults usually (this year we did this part on the WAY to mom's b/c we were running so very late) takes all of the kids out for a drive to go "Santa watching"......as soon as someone spots him and it is confirmed by all the others in the car that yes indeed it is Santa's sleigh with Rudolph in the lead and not some common airplane, the driver rushes home, the kids fast foot it into the house, give hugs and kisses and jump in bed and get to sleep as soon as possible so that they will not ruin Santa's arrival by being awake when he gets there :D...great way to get the lil ones in bed on Christmas Eve night.....yet another tradition carried over from what we did when we lived with my mamaw and papaw when i was little :) (there is actually a hillside near knoxville tennessee that it looks like ruldolph is landing b/c the way each part of the hill hides and reveals the plane tower things...the things that show the planes where the top of the hills are)....

My 3 and my gorgeous nephews :) this is a crew and a half I tell ya....this also gives you a great idea as to why Tink is like she is....the baby of the bunch AND the only girl....yeah, 'nuf said

Not sure what they were doing here but Daniel started it and Chloe chimed in...this is their "cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese" pose

Tink says daniel is her "bes' freend"....they sure are cute.......

yes this is my family....this is how we act when we get together....no, no alcohol was involved....lol
this is my baby sister doing God only knows what to my Uncle.....and what is even funnier is this is not an uncommon sight at my mom's house....

here is the tree and our stockings at my mom & dad's...our stockings are our main gift every year.....for instance, the ALWAYS have socks, panties/underwear, toothbrush, bras (for us gals), lottery tickets, and fruit in the toe of the stocking....then each persons stocking has gifts just for them....the year I moved away from home mine was full of house stuff (nice spatulas, nice utensils like veggie peelers) or another year, when I went back to school, it was all school supplies for college....the past couple years it has been full of ink cartidges for my photo printer, photo paper, and nice stuff like pricier soaps and stuff i normally wouldn't splurge on.....

This is more of us just being us....this is my nephew Chase, my sis Crystal (his mom), and my Elijah (in the corner making the bunny ears)....i really love my family

this is the first year in 5 that my li'l brother has been really HOME (not just visiting on leave from the marine corp)...it was so nice to have him home...he adores all his nephews and his niece.... he kept asking tink "do you know how beautiful you are?"....he has missed so much of her life, i love that he is finally becoming part of it :)

all in all we had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! as i think the pics show :)

if any of you visited De's blog and really looked around, she has a section describing the tools she uses and she has a pic of a lil wooden tool that she calls her "favorite stuffing tool".....she uses it to stuff the dolls....well here is MY favorite stuffing tool :)

Here is the email I sent to De, it explains the story behind our doll....AND there are pics that follow of the different stages our doll baby went through...

Last night I sat down to just "see if i could" make the annie from the "i got you babe" set. As I drug up my sewing machine from the basement, covered in dust from only being used once or twice in the 5 yrs that I have had it, my little girl followed me into my bedroom where I was "setting up shop" for the evening. She watched me get the stuff all laid out, wandering in and out as I did so. after cutting out the pattern and very um...not-neatly? sewing it together (i am about as domestically challenged as they come and can't sew unless it is a straight line), I looked at her and smiled. She cocked her head to the side and said "what you do momma? you makin a balloon?" (lol the head/body kinda does resemble a balloon shape) I told her I was making a doll baby. She said "Tink wants to make a doll baby too." I figured with this being my first, it wasn't going to go exceptionally well anyway so what damage could she do if she helped ;). I tore off several bits of stuffing and showed her how to insert it a piece at a time with her fingers. I figured she would get bored and leave it, but she stuffed about 85% of the head/body!!! I didn't take the time to tea stain it, but "three" stained it (as in my 3 yr olds lil fingers always have some dirt dust candy or unknown residue on them even though she is obsessed with handwashing and since she did so much of the stuffing there are dirty little fingerprints all over it lol). I got tickled as I started taking pictures. In your series of photos that explain your tools and such you talk about your favorite tool for stuffing, so I took a pic of MY favorite stuffing tool....her name is Chloe but she likes to be called Tink ;)!
after she had done all she was able to do she kept right by my side watching intently as I worked, asking over and over, "my baby done yet momma?" Before I could finish, it was her bedtime, so she agreed to go to bed with the promise her baby would be done before we left for church in the morning....should have bit my tongue! the face/hair took me a long time and I think I am going to use smaller thread for the facial features next time (I used the first crochet thread i could find b/c walmart was out of the colors I needed in embroidery floss, so i used a size three crochet thread...toooo big for this little face I was making)...anyway, I was up til 4 a.m. finishing her doll baby for her. It has no shoes (i hate shoes anyway, so i am sure annie would prefer to go barefoot too if she is playing with a 3 yr old), and her dress/body/face doesn't match your dolls hardly at all even though i tried to do it right ;), but she is cute none-the-less! I can see how this could become an addiction and I LOVED the bonding time it gave my daughter and I....I cried more than once last night as I watched her face while she worked on stuffing the doll, it made me miss my Mamaw so badly, but also made me feel so happy that I am creating those memories for her great granddaughter who she never got to meet.....

hopefully now y'all can see why De's simple pattern is such a huge blessing to me :)

if you made it this far, God bless ya!....i will have a freebie up this week, along with another big announcement....if you email me, I will send you a link to another freebie when i post the one I am working on now (just for reading this far....)...all you have to do is email me and tell me what kind of tool i call Chloe :)

the oddest ways....

2007-12-28T14:57:00.000-05:00

God works in such wonderful ways doesn't He?!
Most of you know that finances have been scary for us this year, as in facing losing everything every month since about September. Yet, month after month after month God comes through for us and we have yet to lose anything except some selfish pride!
Christmas was looking scary, as we have 2 who still believe in the jolly ol' elf and we didn't have the moola to put out even for gifts from him and both of our families helped us in ways this year that we were not expecting them to be able to help much gift-wise. Well, as always, we should live by the verse Phillipians 4:6 " Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." because it is true that if we only ask, He is ALWAYS (yes ALWAYS) faithful to answer....sometimes the answer is "yes, of course" sometimes it is "no way" and sometimes it is "wait, I have something better for you if you are patient".....
Anyway, we ended up being able to get each of the kids gifts from each other (from us), our parents on both sides got them every single thing on their lists except a Wii (like they really need that anyway!), and mike and I got some very nice things even though we asked for nothing and expected nothing...AND there were 3 gifts for each young'un from Santa, one for each from their personal elves Jingle, Tingle, and Tiny Kringle (they each got long johns to wear under their clothes when they go sledding...oh yeah they got 4 gifts b/c Santa left each of the boys a sled too) all of this under our tree when we got home Christmas Day!!!
Anyway, all of this is leading up to something. How God works in mysterious/odd ways....
anyway, most of the gifts we bought were gotten on Ebay. At first I felt horrible thinking about giving my babies stuff that had been previously used or owned but OH MY, we got some GREAT gifts for a little bit of nothing (you have to be willing to pick a low price and refuse to go above it and really watch the shipping/handling costs)!!! During this time I got used to just browsing ebay.
Well today I was browsing again and thinking "if i see something i really want, i can use some of the money I got for Christmas and get something just for me".....
lo and behold I came across what I thought were raggedy ann and andy dolls that were SO cute. Growing up I always had raggedy ann and andy dolls b/c my Mamaw used to make them (I will have to tell you the story of the year she sold them to get my birthday supper)....I have priced them at different places/thrift shops/boutiques to get for Tink so that she can have some of the things i loved so much as a child (ok ok yeah it has as much to do with me wanting to relive my childhood as it has to do with wanting her to have a raggedy ann). Anyway, back on track....
well i clicked on it b/c it had a raggedy ann AND an andy!....well it wasn't the actual dolls, it was an e-pattern. Then it hit me, if i buy the pattern I can MAKE them for tink like Mamaw made them for me!!!! The post was for 6.50 for the patterns for both. I bought them.
A few minutes later I got a reply from the seller with the patterns enclosed, and in her siggy it gave the link for her store and her blog.....well i visited the store (she had some ADORABLE freebie patterns on there) and thought "wow that is a great place...." then at the bottom of the page it had something that caught me off guard, she gave ALL the credit to Jesus Christ!!!!!!
sooooooooooooooooo I thought "hm that was a great surprise, knowing I bought from a fellow believer, why not visit her blog".....this is where I say that God works in odd ways. On this blog I found entries and sideblogs of a kindred spirit!!! A fun lovin', shoe hatin', animal adorin', God fearin', Christ praisin', family girl from the south!!!!! I am already hooked and her blog has already blessed me today more than she could probably know! I will be blogging soon about some of my memories growing up in tennessee thanks to her and i will work on some sort of freebie for all y'all over the next couple days :).....anyway here is her blog addy.... http://itsaboutannie.blogspot.com/ , thanks De for brightening my day!

blogging...hm....lol oh yeah freebies too

2007-12-07T08:57:00.000-05:00

:) I usually open my blog by apologizing for the long delay between posts...well, that is changing :)
I blog when I can, and when I have something to say or something to give away. I wish that were every day/week/month, but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way lol
I have a big announcement! (part of my reason for blogging today) and here it is....

Yep I am designing at Designing-Moments.net :)...We are really working on getting the site running full force (by "we" I mean Carla is and I am just her yes-man telling her how nice of a job she is doing) *smiles* so stop by, visit the shop and the blog and maybe even take on a challenge from the blog :)
I have actually scrapped a few things also :D....i am LOVING Nancy Comelab's frames...sigh...I have a couple frames I have made, but hers are just too great to pass up (she can be found at the lily pad)...and Cherie Shields has a great alpha that I will be using over and over and over (she can be found at one of a kind scrapz)...

This is one I did as a "gift" to a close friend using my Santa's Vintage Suspenders Kit, Nancy's frames, & Cherie's Charming to Me alpha :)

Then there is my "dainty" daughter proving that she can be just as "funny" as the boys (my nephew, chase, and middle young'un, elijah, were trying to make her smile by PRETENDING to pick their noses behind my back while I was taking pics...she decided to make THEM smile by picking for real....) I have had several people not see the humor in this PICKture, but if you know me or my family, this is us...unconventional, finding humor in the mundane and sometimes gross, and more or less just not taking ourselves too seriously :) The caption says "Pickin' Out the Perfect Gift"....Frame by Nancy Comelab, everything else from my Santa's Vintage Suspenders Kit (except the brad)

then my cat, Zoe has a new fave spot to snooze....under the Christmas tree, that way after she is good and recharged she can rearrange all of our ornaments without having to walk across the room to do so...

and Malachi (our 112 lb black lab) "made" a card for a very wonderful family who took him in when he decided to take a walk out of our fenced in yard and into a nearby neighborhood...they took care of him for 2 days (i mean took REALLY good care of him...he got to sleep on a people bed and everything lol....)....we printed this off and gave it to them as a "thank you".....(both this and Zoe's pic have my frosted framer and snowflake overlays from Santa's Vintage Suspenders kit)...

and finally, our family picture for our Christmas Cards, but I turned it into a 5x7 for the mantel :) (once again using nancy's frames and my Santa's Vintage Suspenders Kit)...our final card is below it....I loved the way they turned out....

Our family truly is a miracle...this time last year, hubby and I were separated and both were hurt/disenchanted beyond the point of reconciliation...new relationships had been started and our marriage was over, it was just a matter of paperwork to make it final....then God stepped in and we are now stronger and happier than we have ever been despite the enemy's plan for our family :)....it can be done, no matter what the hurts or transgressions have been against one another if both people are willing to fully submit themselves to God and His will...it is not easy, but it is so much more than a "possibility".....The fact that we are happy and still together and raising our kids in a TRULY Christian home now is in and of itself a true Miracle :)

Now on to products and freebies :)

All of the following items are now available there (www.designing-moments.net) and at my store at OAKS (www.oneofakindscrapz.com) :)

This kit is called Santa's Vintage Suspenders :)....it is available as a full kit, as a paper pack only, and as an element pack only. Here is the description :)
This li'l Christmas kit is full of fun and charm :)
The elements include:
a double tied/laced up frame
a double suspender frame
2 fasteners
a frosted framer overlay
one inked edge
a 17 1/2 long ribbon (able to reach from corner to corner of your layout)
a 2 part envelope (so you can "stick things in it")
a little name plate
a textured vellum
and 3 snowflake overlays :)

there are 7 textured papers in traditional Christmas colors :)
and with names like "Red As Santa's Rump," "Santa's Underpants," and "ReindeerFood" they are sure to elicit a smile as you create your treasured layouts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future :)....the papers are all 300 dpi and 12x12 inches and saved at a high quality

**dropshadows are for preview purposes only except where needed for layered products**
**elements are previewed at 75% of their size in order to fit them all on one preview page :)**

personal and scrap for hire use only :)
please read TOU included in zip :)

I really stepped out of my box the other day, color-wise :)....My dear friend Carla LOVES these bright bold colors, whereas I tend to lean to the muted earthy tones lol. SO in honor of her birthday I made a paper pack and overlay using her "style" of colors lol.
This is called "Carla's Christmas Paper Pack Plus"....the "plus" comes from the overlay included :) and it can be found at Designing Moments and One of a Kind Scrapz :)

And now for a little freebie :) you get both of these quickpages :)...
These were made using the Carla's Christmas Paper Pack Plus (frame not included in the Paper Pack, but the swirls/snowflakes overlay is) (of course the photos are for display purposes only lol) **click on either layout to get the freebie**

and for those of you who may be looking for a last minute personalized Christmas Card...here is a 4x6 quick page ready for your family/kids/pets photos! All you have to do is add the photo and whatever sentiment you want :)...also I do scrap for hire for cards and such so if you know of anyone interested in that I can be contacted at SweetAsSodiePop@gmail.com....I am not fast and cheap, but I am quick and inexpensive ;)...any questions just email me :D Here is the quickpage ...(4x6, 300 dpi) **click on HERE to get the freebie**

Happy Scrapping, and Happy Holidays if I don't blog before the end of the year :D....
(Happy Hannukah to our Jewish friends!!!....already in full swing!)

belated freebie blush

2007-11-05T17:25:00.000-05:00

:) I am very sorry for not having a freebie up the other day as planned, so instead of the one sneak peek paper I planned on giving as a freebie, I added a word art and decided to give you an alpha to match my Feral Faeries kit :).....but (yes there is almost always a but) i have an issue that needs addressed....
a close friend of mine blogged today about something very timely to me giving another freebie out...
for over a year she has been creating freebies and graciously giving them away...she has RAKed many friends/customers/fellow scrappers...she, like most of us, spends a lot of time making things to simply give away....yet she rarely sees any fruit from her efforts.
I have to say, that i have been extremely blessed that so many of you have used the freebies I have provided, I have gotten unusually high numbers of comments, and I have recieved emails from so many of you linking me to your wonderful creations....and I do understand financial restrictions on buying things....
My friend seems to have stirred a couple of her readers up with her blog post, as they see it as her being ungrateful or unChristian in saying that she is no longer giving freebies and asking "Where is God in all this?"....to those people, I can assure you that she IS a very generous person, but like the rest of us designers, she is also trying to make a living and support her family (one of God's greatest commands)....and she was not saying she wouldn't RAK people, give away "free with purchase" items, or do nice things for people (i know for a fact that she is one of those people who will readily help fellow scrappers AND designers!..which it is rare to find designers willing to help boost one another).....so if anyone is wondering where God is in these feelings, why not ask Him? ask Him to reveal to you what someone is going through when they come to such big decisions, ask Him to give you an insight, and heart of understanding and I bet He just might show you ;)....
I know personally, I have stepped on people's toes by only giving a freebie as a 24 hour gift...that was never my intention and when it has happened i have been deeply hurt that they seemed ungrateful for the dozens of quality freebies i left up for months!...so next time you visit a blog (not mine in particularly...lol even though i LOVE the attention and kind words) make sure you say thanks for their hard work, and if you use it (which if you download it, i would hope it is b/c you plan on using it) let the other designers know by linking them to your layouts! I know i love leaving love on layouts where people have used my stuff :D....ok, off my soapbox.....

**update on the home front**
Tink (Chloe as she is very firmly callng herself now...which it is her name so i can't complain, i just have a hard time calling her that lol) is now potty trained 100% day, night, and naptime!!!
Lane has now been moved up to 8th grade math (he is in 7th)...
and Elijah's teacher is in the works of having him moved to 4th grade math (he is in 3rd)...
both boys' reading skills are off the charts also and tink is obsessed with drawing...i mean she does it all the time!
This weekend marks my biggest sales ever (lol which isn't a lot compared to most designers, but I am seeing it as a blessing all the same!). Hopefully, with more people sampling my stuff, maybe i will have more sales in the future :D....AND I have been praying about a certain store that I wanted to be part of but didn't want to flat out ask, well the owner approached me about it last weekend so i will be having a BIG announcement concerning that sometime this week ;)..
Mike's going to be going to court concerning getting his job back with his former employer....God knows my heart on this matter, He knows Mike's heart on this matter (lol we don't necessarily agree on what we WANT), but I also just want His will done no matter which of us is going to be most pleased, so please be praying that God gives us both the strength and understanding to be grateful no matter what the decision is....another job has possibly presented itself (the same line of work) so if that is what God wants, that is what we want also....
Finally, tomorrow (the 6th) is my 31st bday! (it didn't bother me much until the last few hours, just getting a bit anxious about it for some reason...) and it is Mike's 33rd bday :D...here is our "almost" bday picture (he really is not this aggrevated, he just looks like it in most pictures lol)...and i am happy my hair was hanging just right to cover most of my chubby face! lol

Here are some trick or treat pics :).....it was too chilly for Tink and Elijah to wear their original costumes (pictured below the trick or treat ones...i took the other photos before the fall costume contest a couple weekends ago), so we just rigged them up with some different (warmer) homespun costumes :D....lane went "goth" both times, and it is a little unsettling to this momma how "naturally" he took the persona of his costume :(, I am so glad it was only for Halloween....lol if it was anyone else's son, I would compliment them on how handsome they looked (lol i love the look, just not on my oldest baby boy :P)....

Tink looking Ghetto Clown Fabulous ;) (this is how she NORMALLY dresses lol, we only added face makeup)...she refused to say "Trick or Treat"...she would only say "treat" lol smart girl ;)...her hair is actually a lot lighter than it looks, and more reddish but i used a photo action on these and it darkened it a lot lol....

and for the costume contest....she was a victorian princess, she won 2nd for "cutest" in her age group...

"Please sir, may i have suh'more?"...elijah kept using his "Oliver Twist" accent and asking for "Canday for thuh poor" instead of Trick or Treat....

and for the costume contest he was a piece of the lawn (yes that is fake dog poo in his hair, c'mon admit it, most of us have at least one pile hidden somewhere in the grass ;) )...he got first place in his category :D

and my Goth Boy, who DID say "Trick or Treat" (if they think they are too old to say it, then they have NO business trick or treating ;) )......

and for the costume contest he had a fake lip ring, black nails, and "sleeves"...and we worked a bit more on his hair....lol

I am very proud to say that all 3 of mine thanked every person who was handing out candy and were very polite and considerate of everyone else out and about that night, I was very pleased...

sniffle, i fear this is the last year my oldest young'un will be trick or treating though (he is taller than momma now lol)...he will probably still dress up, but trick or treat is best left to the younger ones :)

ok now to the freebie :)...um i mean freebies!.....
first off is a bit of a preview of a couple of the things that just might could be made using some items from my grab bag ;)....this freebie contains the paper and the word art (separately so you don't have to leave "harvest" where it is)....if you like it, better go grab my Scrapz Sack at www.oneofakindscrapz.com (scrappin hillbilly sweetpea designs) while it is still up and only $2.00!!! (click on the preview for the freebie link)...

and the 2nd freebie is an alpha that coordinates with my Feral Faeries kit (also available at OAKS)...this wonderful layout, done by Tracy Little (5 angels) shows you the alpha that our lil feral faeries munched on!...definitely not your normal run of the mill alpha :D

Hope those were worth the long wait since my last freebie :) HUGS!
Be sure to see last Friday's (nov 2nd) post if you would like to see a preview of the Feral Faeries kit!

*SOBBING!!!!* I just discovered that all of my previous 4shared files were deleted (I was not logged in for over a month :(....ugh i am almost sick, all the wonderful comments and such that were left are forever gone :(....please if you leave a comment, do it here (i will still love them on 4shared, but if they are on here i will never lose them)....ugh, NOT a good bday "present!!!"....

:) long time no blog...

2007-11-02T17:09:00.000-04:00

after a hard month I have spent the last week working on designing and getting myself emotionally and spiritually back in line :D!
This is going to be a quick blog, as my oh so hot hubby is waiting for me to finish up here so we can go drop all three kids off with relatives and have an entire night alone!!! Our birthday is coming up on Tuesday, and I have to work the polls so we can't do anything on our birthday...yes i said OUR, as hubby and I have the same birthday lol ;) HE is older just in case you were wondering...
I have a new kit, a grab bag, and have been part of the november free with purchase kit (and the kit for Victoria's scavenger hunt) so if you have been looking for a chance to sample some of my stuff, NOW is the time....all items excluding my grab bag (scrapz sack) are 30% off :) now through Sunday night!...my grab bag is $2.00 but has over 100mb worth of items! I will have a big announcement AND a freebie up tomorrow (Saturday) in celebration of National Digital Scrapbooking Day!
here is a link to my store.... http://www.oneofakindscrapz.com/store/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=39

and here are some previews for you....

My kits almost always come as a full kit, as a paper pack, and as an element pack so you can get what you want :)

**one of the freebies tomorrow will coordinate with this faerie kit!**
I will also post some layouts created using my kits :D, stay tuned!!!
Swing by One of a Kind Scrapz for loads of deals and sales!

Love, Prayers, and a Freebie ....lol

2007-10-04T00:26:00.001-04:00

hiya everyone....
well after the last post, several things have happened and one in particular really drove home the importance of letting those you love know it now...not tomorrow, not next time you see them, NOW....

I got a phone call at 7:30 this morning from my cousin Heather. She was calling to tell me that our 23 yr old cousin, Nathan, was driving way too fast, not wearing a seatbelt, and veered off the road and hit a culvert/bridge abutment and was killed instantly....

no time for "good-byes" or last minute "i love you"s....no time for my aunt to take his face in her hands, look him in the eye and say "baby, no matter how much you mess up or have messed up, i love you more than you will ever know".....not even a chance to sit at his hospital bedside and get out all the unsaid things in hopes that he heard it through the fog of a coma....nothing....
My uncle asked the question "Is there really a God?....because if there is I am SO mad at him right now".....my aunt replied, "yeah...there is...and i am too..."...he said "then we need to get to church because i need to know there is some hope that maybe my boy is alright now"....
Nathan left behind an almost 6 yr old son, 5 nieces and nephews, 2 sisters and a brother, and his parents....my prayer is that they had all said their "i love you"s and "you are something to me"s....
sorry to start this off with such a downer of a post, but it just feels so very important to me right now to let everyone who will hear or read know that God loves you (whether you believe or follow Him or not) and that whether it feels like it or not, there are people all around you who love you (online and off)....
If you are someone I talk to at all and I haven't told you lately, I am telling you now, I love ya...and i don't say that lightly....I would name you, but then i would, without a doubt, forget someone very important to me and i would feel like crap...so you know who you are....
please be praying for our family and friends who are mourning this loss...and please pray for traveling mercy and protection over all of us who have to travel to be together in the coming week for the funeral and such....thanks :)

ok...on to brighter things....

My kids are getting excited. Fall is upon us, the weather has changed for the better, leaves are changing and it is time to start decorating and celebrating the upcoming holidays....:) I am happy b/c it is picture takin' season again :D....
The boys will be staying with my mom & sister (they live across from one another) while I am away at the funeral and Mom is taking them to a local Canal Days festival...they are really looking forward to it (esp Elijah)....
Tink will be going with me on the 4 hour trip, which should be interesting with her new found training skills...eek!....she did "the other" all by herself TWICE tonight....so that means all day she had a grand total of ZERO accidents of ANY kind!!!! (this is the first day ever for that)....I am pretty proud of her ;)...
Mike said "i love you" to me twice tonight out of nowhere, just in passing....it made me feel pretty awesome...

now onto scrapping things....
I now have a CT :)...I will be giving the BIG announcement soon (i wanna do it with fanfare and all that jazz and not after a somber post)...but I will be on the look out for a couple guest CTMs within a week or two soooooooo I will be on watching for anyone who uses my stuff or who sports my fan blinkie (and I will have my li'l hillbilly helpers doing the same!) to fill those spots....
here is the blinkie if you wanna shot at it!

now for your freebie....this was going to be a mini-kit in my store at OneOfAKindScrapz, but with everything happening, I just wanted to give you guys something for all the nice things you have said/done for me, and I also didn't know if I would get it in the store before Halloween....so here you go....it is only slightly screamable....;)
it includes one 12x12 inch paper & 3 doodles (each one comes as just the doodle and as a sticker, for a total of 6 elements)...let Punkin Dewdell and WitchyWoo brighten up your layouts of your li'l ghouls and boos this Halloween....
click on preview to be taken to the download...
PLEASE leave some love here if you like the freebie....it really makes my day :)

I have actually scrapped a bit :)...here are some of my most recent ones....(click on preview to be taken to the credits...)
This one is of Elijah on the first day of school...even though it was the FIRST day, he was SO bored waiting on the bus without Lane, that he almost didn't know what to do with himself!...he was so nervous (i think he was a bit excited, but mostly nervous) and was really acting goofy to cover it...it was a perfect example of Bus stop Boredom...

This was for a challenge, and also for my guest spot on Kris Myers' CT....it really shows how my family deals with nearly everything...we laugh...through tears, through gritted teeth, through it all we love and we laugh in order that we might live a little better....the photos are of my daughter (lol our early attempts at potty training made her laugh at us, and us laugh through gritted teeth), my brother & sister & I at my sisters wedding after goosing each other during a photo shoot, my sons just being goofy last summer, my dh making his silly smiling face at the park, my 3 and my 2 nephews laughing after shocking each other at the end of the slide (it generates a LOT of static), my 3 laughing b/c one of them supposedly um uh "tooted" while i was taking their picture, my son going "airborne" b/c my dd "kicked" him while swinging (it was totally staged which made it all the funnier), DH Me & the kids posing for our Valentine's Day pic, and my 3 and my nephews again just laying "around"....lol see we find "funny" in everything from the day to day to the dys"fun"ctional ;)

I have so many photos of my 3 kids that i have not scrapped....these are just a few of them that I have taken in the 3 yrs since Tink was born....I really liked the way this turned out (and it was made using my Li'l Bluebirch Kit, so it made it even more special to me :D )

This one I did for the Not Just a Template Challenge at OAKS...I loved the way it turned out...
I used my Hallow-teen Paper Pack to make everything, and I used pics of Tink's first trip to the pumpkin patch...I loved using older photos that I haven't scrapped :D

and last, but not least I did an "all about me" one for the Embellishment Explosion Challenge at OAKS...these are all photos of me from Sept of 2006 until March of 2007...I no longer have my tongue ring (lol i would if Mike wasn't opposed to them probably), but it was all part of who I was and who i was becoming :)....each of the words on the layout describes a piece of me...not who I am, but why I am who I am :) did that make a lick of sense?...

remember that no matter how bad we have it....someone else has it worse...
See your trouble as your servant, not as your master and realize that often our problems are simply our prophecy...God uses our trials to build us up and put us where we need to be...so after a test, which do you choose: a testimony....or just the moanies?...;)

You are loved....

2007-10-01T07:48:00.000-04:00

I just had a wonderful Bible study and wanted to share just a couple really quick thoughts...
I am reading Power of a Praying Parent, and today's study was on praying that our children will always feel confident b/c of the love we have for them...
In this book, Stormie Omartian made a couple points that really struck home with me....
She said that the opposite of being loved, is being rejected...simple enough, but I never really thought of it that way (lol to me the opposite of being love would be being hated). Any time we are rejected, that person, company, or group is saying "we don't love you/your work enough to accept you" and that hurts! but why is it that I can hear much more horrible things in a "rejection" than my husband or certain friends?..well she deals with that in this chapter too!
She says "Some people can let (rejection) roll off their backs because they know, deep within, that they are accepted. Others, however may bear deep emotional wounds from incident after incident of rejection.....A person who already feels rejected perceives everything as rejection-a mere look, a harmless word, and insignificant action".....
*light bulb moment*....this is a self perpetuating feeling!!! if a "rejected person" feels rejected by every look, action, or word, they will ALWAYS be stuck in the cycle of being an "already feeling rejected" person!....
As in all her books, Stormie has Bible verses that pertain to what she is saying, and what God says about each issue...As far as Love goes, she gives these verses...
Isaiah 41:9, God says "I have chosen you & not cast you away".....to be chosen by God?! to be loved enough to be told specifically "I have chosen YOU"....talk about being accepted...
and Romans 8:38-39 the Bible assures us that "neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, not height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord"....NOTHING can separate us from the love God has for His children!!!!
So I challenge you today to make someone feel loved....call up an old friend or family member just to say "hey, I was thinking about you today, and even though i may not have said it recently, I love you...." then leave it at that, don't get into a discussion about your last falling out, don't get into the apology game (you can do that, just during this call leave it at "I love you")...If you have kids, get to their level (if they are toddlers you will have to be on the floor, or if they are like my lane, you just have to look them straight in the eye lol) and tell them, "I love you...you are wonderful and I consider you a blessing..."
just a thought ;)
we all love to feel loved, and you never know who might have needed to hear that you love them plain and simple....;)
have a blessed monday and know that YOU are loved!!!!!

'fraidy cat...'fraidy cat....'fraidy cat freebie :)

2007-09-30T13:10:00.000-04:00

:) can you guess what my newest li'l kit is called?!
lol I am having so much fun working over at OAKS and a very dear friend of mine is now with me over there!!!!! a lot of you may remember her from SBB (angelarelle), or from DID...
Cherie Shields is now an OAKS gal!!!! I am so excited :)
Cherie has also been kind of mentoring me on how to promote myself and what people like and don't like, what to do and what not to do, and just being there for me in general :)
She used my new releases to make a frightfully fantastic Desktop Calendar for me to share here (ok i have to admit, i have VERY talented friends who must love me b/c they keep doing all this stuff for me lol)
I have yet to make many frames, so Cherie used one of her frames from her "Simply Frame Me" element pack :)!!! She has some gorgeous frames in that pack ;)
Click on the preview to download the free desktop calendar!

this is what I did with the calendar so that I can print it off for my
Mother-in-Law to keep on her desk at work (her LITERAL desktop!)...
This size prints beautifully (it is the same as an 8x10)....

Credits: 'fraidy Cat mini-kit & Hallow-teen paper pack by Scrappin'HillbillySweetpea Designs (lol me) and Frame from "Simply Frame Me" by Cherie Shields
Layout/Desktop Calendar- Cherie Shields :)
Fonts-rsfont (on my example)

Here are previews of my newest additions to the store :D...you can get to my store by clicking on the previews :)
Here is my 'fraidy Cat li'l kit :)
Sure to make your Halloween layouts an absolute SCREAM! with spiders and cats and bold creepy colors, how can you go wrong snagging up this kit?! If you only want the papers, i have them available separately; if you only want the elements, you can buy them separately too, but you save

Then there is my Hallow-teen Paper Pack...it is bright enough to show off your littlest monsters, yet dark enough to make emo seem happy :) This selection of ghoulishly delightful papers to bring your Halloween layouts to life. Included are 7 terrifyingly textured, frightfully fantastic papers with names like dirty pumpkin, hallowteen moon, somethin dirty, and scaredy stripes.....how could even the coldest hearted witch resist?!
All petrifying papers are 12x12 inches (3600 x 3600 pixels) and saved at 300 dpi for hauntingly high quality...
Drop shadows are for preview purposes only...its gives the ghosts a place to hide....;)

ok this time i spared you by giving you the freebie before i blog my life lol
Just a little update here....

Elijah seems to be doing really well with the positive reinforcement :)... He pushes it sometimes by trying to get away with more than he can, but we just keep being firm with consequences for bad behavior and really pushing the positives....

Tink is pee-pee potty trained now!!! woot!!! now if we could just figure out the other :(....she is talking more clearly every day and is getting so tall!

Lane got his school pictures back and for the first time EVER he had a sincere smile in them!!! even though i told him he didn't have to smile (when he fakes it, it ruins the pic completely)....he is such a good kid....

Mike and I had all Friday evening and all day Saturday to ourselves :D...my sis took all 3 kids for over 24 hours!!!! We went to eat at a restaurant we have never tried (it was not all that great, but at least it was not Taco Bell or a buffet ;) ), came home and watched Apocalypto (FAB movie...it is all subtitled, but it is really good...very intense so not for the whole family, but beautifully done and very good)...then we slept until 11 a.m.....yes ELEVEN, as in almost noon lol....it was heavenly :)...we just puttered around the house for a couple hours, then went to the Y to work out together (mike had to almost guilt me into it b/c i had a minor panic attack thinking about it)...
I did 15 min on the eliptical (sp?), and 20 min on the treadmill....then i did stretches and side crunches....i really have to get back in shape....
then we went to my mom's and my sister's (they live across the street from each other lol) and ended up only bringing one of our 3 kids home with us lol....it was a really nice weekend....

We went to bed kinda late (12:30 or so), and were awoken to the sound of tink getting sick, so we were up all night (until about 8 this a.m.) taking care of her, thank God she seems to be feeling better now, still has a fever but no bodily fluids coming out of anywhere.....ew...

soooooooooooo now here i am blogging while she lays on the bed and daddy has went to get the boys :D....
hope you all have a great afternoon/evening/morning (whatever time of day it is in your part of the world ;) )
Thought for the day..."Why should God give us what we want, when we can't even be thankful for what we already have?".....makes ya think, huh?

TWO freebies...Cruisin' Susie Mini-mini kit & Chark Byte Calendars!

2007-09-21T10:50:00.000-04:00

TGIF!!!! wow this week has flown by!
This week has brought about a LOT of changes for me!...
I have resigned my dtm position at Scrapbook-bytes.com in order to focus more intently on my designing...this was a hard and somewhat bittersweet decision, but one that had to be made none-the-less :(...I had to have my first parent/teacher conference for reasons other than to hear my children praised for their wonderful behavior (Elijah's teacher and I had to talk)...I got a comment from a wonderful friend whom i really must spend more time keeping in touch with (LOVE YA BETH)...I started a new Bible study (Power of a Praying Parent)....started focusing VERY intently on potty training Tink (Chloe).....AND working on several new things for my store at OneofAKindScrapz!.....
The parent/teacher conference was not b/c Elijah is being rude or bullyish or anything like that...He simply is defiant (in a somewhat respectful way). He tries to be sneaky about not completing homework, or about not "changing his color" when another teacher tells him to (they have to change a color card if they are not following directions), and then having melt downs when he is reprimanded...we have been having these same problems at home with him. He never wants to help out with anything, has to be told over and over and over to do simple tasks or chores. Freaks out if he is reprimanded, whether it is just a scolding or a grounding or a swat on the bottom.... Elijah feeds off of attention, good or bad, so his teacher and I have decided to try a new tactic with him. When he is told to do something it is said once, very simply "Elijah do this, this, and/or this"....if he does it immediately he is recognized for his positive behavior...if not, it is stated again, firmly but without any additional commentary from us ;).....
Each day I write a note to his teacher (in print so he can easily "snoop" and see what it says) telling her some of his positive accomplishments from home. Then she, in return, jots down something positive that he accomplished at school that day. Any negative incidents happening at school, she will call my cell phone (so it will not be on the answering machine) or email me to inform me of what is going on. Basically we are taking away his being able to feed off of the negative attention....He will still have consequences for misbehavior, but the focus is going to be mainly on what he can do in the future to correct it...
Tink and I ran into a friend the other day and we were discussing the fact that Tink has been horrendous at potty training. Nothing seems to phase her (wet pants, dirty pants, nothing). We have tried a sticker chart, letting her put stickers on herself, giving her treats for every successful potty time, dancing and singing and clapping the "Chloe pee peed" song.......sigh NOTHING has helped....and she just turned THREE this week (my boys trained EARLY...Lane trained himself at 18 months, just stopped wearing diapers and was done...Elijah had to work at it for ONE week when we was 2 1/2 yrs old and was completely trained...).... Anyway, this friend said to let her put the stickers on her potty chair...I explained that we did "the sticker thing" and it didn't work. She repeated "let her put them ON her potty chair".... SO i decided it can't hurt to try.... I sat her on the potty every 15-30 minutes yesterday (if she peed i set the timer to 30 min, if she didn't i set it to 15), after the first successful "sitting" she got to put a sticker on her potty chair....OMGosh you would have thought i handed her $1000!!!! we had SEVEN pee-pees yesterday (sorry if that is TMI, if you are a mom, you probably TOTALLY understand my excitement, if you are not a parent, just trust me, this is liken to hitting the lottery).
Lane, my oldest, is loving Jr. High (he is in 7th grade now). He actually gets upset if he is running late and doesn't want to miss a day for ANYTHING (he had a tummy bug and had to stay home and was MISERABLE about it)!!! He was mad yesterday b/c he got a B- on a homework paper lol, he is a bit of an over achiever. He has asked if he can start staying after school to help the Elementary art teacher (K-12 are in the same building, just separate wings of the building, and 7-12 get out an hour earlier than the Elementary). In lieu of Elijah's issues, I am going to be volunteering 2 days a week at the school, so I told Lane that on those 2 days he can stay after and just ride home with us. I am hoping that me being in the building specifically to help in "ELIJAH'S" school will help Elijah see that his education and day to day life are as important to me as anything else....we will see...
Anyway that is pretty much my last week. If you have made it this far, you SO deserve a freebie....lets make it TWO of them!!!
The first one is a wonderful gift that a dear friend of mine gifted to me! She had bought my new mini-kit "Li'l Bluebirch" and made a desktop calendar with it for October! She sent it to me and said "if you want to use this as a freebie on your blog, go for it!".....yeah, I love this girl!
Click on preview to be taken to the download :)
If ya download, leave some love if ya would! It really makes me and all the other designers/scrappers want to keep giving stuff away for free :D...

ok, now for the 2nd freebie :)....i am SO excited for a fellow scrapper who just got her license to drive!!! Susie (susieU.K.) always has a sweet comment or an encouraging word for those in the forums she is part of, and just this week she is officially road worthy!!!!!...she is from the UK so I am sure the street signs and such are a bit different there, but I did what i could ;)....this is the Cruisin' Susie mini-mini-kit! click on the preview to be taken to the download!
I'm really happy for ya Susie!!!!

Check back often, I have 2 or 3 Halloween kits on the way to the store and I am sure there will be freebies for all y'all to match the new kits!!!
Have a great weekend!
Quote for the weekend: "I have a great need for God, and a great God for my needs" (heard on sirius Christian station on satellite t.v.)

24 hour FREEBIE.....

2007-09-12T22:41:00.000-04:00

:) wow, it has been way to long since I blogged last :)
I am working on getting my store at OneOfAKindScrapz established, and found out that I definitely suffer from severe brain block :P....when I am forcing myself to make something, nothing comes out!
Well, after praying about it a bit and realizing I simply need to refocus and get on a routine with creating, blogging, commenting, posting on sites, working-out, being mom to my kids, being wife to my hubby, and most importantly remembering that everything i have everything i am everything i will ever be belongs to God, I realized there is nothing to have a block about ;)
So Li'l Bluebirch is the kit that came out of some days just doodling while waiting for my kids to catch the bus :)....*I also found out that when I sit for more than 15 min staring at a blank adobe "new document" that it is time to walk away from the computer and just let my mind drift away from all things digi or technological :)
Here is the preview for my newest "mini" kit (the kit can be found& purchased HERE)...

the alpha turned out really nicely and IS included in the kit, but can also be purchased separately :)
here is the preview for the alpha :)

and finally, one of the reasons you probably came to my blog today...the freebie :)
**ATTENTION** this freebie is no longer here :(...but, if you really want it, you can find it sometime on Friday, VERY reasonably priced (as in 1.50 or less) at OneofAKindScrapz

OH yes, i nearly forgot!!!
I was tagged by relocateddixiegirl (and quite a while back by mirandalea) as being a Rockin' Girl Blogger!!! so I must pass the icon to 3 other Rockin' Girl Bloggers :)
1. Dawn (aka winkasheart) @ http://winkasheartscraps.blogspot.com .
2. Cherie Shields @ http://www.scrapittydoodah.blogspot.com/ .
3. Tracy (aka 5angels) @ http://4blues1pink.blogspot.com/ .

There are so many Rockin' Girl Bloggers out there that I could never name them all, but those 3 are the names/blogs i know off the top of my head and by heart

also I tag Babette, even though i was only supposed to tag 3 :P, but Babette tagged me with having to tell 6 unique things about myself...well 7 is my favorite number, so I am going to say I tag the next SEVEN people to post SEVEN unique things about themselves on their blogs (these people are ALL rockin' bloggers...not all gals, but all rockin!)....
I hereby tag:
Aaron (gotta love a scrappin guy having a blog!!!) @ http://sirscrapalot.blogspot.com/
Sonja (i love this girl) @ http://tuneskids.blogspot.com/
Shell (love this girl too, she is a blast) @ http://www.rlwebslife.blogspot.com/
Iris (she's my girl too, hopefully this will bump her to blog for a minute) @ http://ayyacreativedesigns.wordpress.com/
Sarah Grimwood (LOVE LOVE LOVE her stuff) @ http://sarahg247.blogspot.com/
Kim B :) (gotta go check out her freebies and designs) @ http://kimbsdesigns.blogspot.com/
and Sara Ellis (she gave me a BIG ol' pat on the back today at http://scrappraise1.wordpress.com/ and it made my day) @ http://scrapsillysara.blogspot.com/

(i also tag pamela gibson but hve to find her addy ;)...ok so that makes 8)...

7 Unique things about me:
1. I am the only person I know with the BIRTH name Fantacy...
2. I have spent more years living in Ohio than in Tennessee, but talk to me for more than 5 min and I am sure you will feel more like I belong down home than up here ;)...
3. I have been married and momma for over 12 1/2 yrs, but I am just getting ready to turn 31 in November (but i still graduated with a B average even though i was married and had a baby months before graduation)...
4. My husband and I have the same birthDAY (we are exactly 2 yrs apart...he is older lol)
5. My little girl's nickname "Tink" was actually given to her by my middle son b/c he said she was so spoiled rotten she "'Tinked"...but my older son strongly defends her by saying it is b/c she was so tiny and is so cute like Tinkerbell...(Elijah had JUST turned 6 when Tink was born, Lane was 9 1/2)
6. I can recite several movies almost by heart (namely Muppets Christmas Carol, Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory*GeneWilderVersion*, and a LOT of Christmas programs)
7. My Mamaw & Papaw (mom's parents) did most of what I would call Raising me up right...i miss them both bunches...sniffle...

Ok...now I am really off to bed b/c i have to be up in 6 hours :)
24 hour count down for the freebie starts a midnight tonight!

Don't forget to grab the freebie....

2007-08-22T12:11:00.000-04:00

from the 18th!!! it is being taken off my freebie list after TODAY!!!!!.....

I actually completed a couple layouts this week also :)...one using my kit, the other just using some stuff i made on the side :)

This is my lil sister, my 2 nephews, and my brother-in-law directly after their wedding a little over a week ago :)...

This is my middle Young'un, Elijah, with a lil "friend" his brother caught in Canada whilst on vacation in 2003...lol good thing i am not TOO scared of snakes ;)

**updated**
Both my boys just got home from their first day of school for the year....
It was Lane's first day of 7th grade (first year of Jr. High at their school) and Elijah's first day of 3rd grade....
I was so anxious about Lane's first day...worrying how he would adjust to getting his locker open, getting from class to class, fitting in with his friends from last year, meeting so many new teachers, being the "lil dawgs" of the school again.....but as he got on the bus *at 6:45 a.m.*, even though my heart tugged, I thought "ok that wasn't SO bad..."....until...................
I was standing at the end of the driveway taking pictures of Elijah, waiting for HIS bus to come at 8:05. He was REALLY antsy, squirmin, wouldn't hold still, pacing....and he said "mom, today is my first day having to get on the bus on my own...and having to ride to school on my own...and having to wait for the bell to ring on my own...and being in the school on my own...and having to get back on the bus on my own...and having to ride back home on my own...and having to get off of the bus all on my own...".....
I about cried! in all the hub-bub of realizing how "grown up" Lane was getting, I totally over looked what a huge milestone this was for Elijah!!! Here he has always been "Lane's li'l brother" at their school and on the bus...now he is "Elijah"......he is on a path to becoming himself, to growing up, to being independent! And although he said he was excited, I could hear that lil echo of self-doubt in his voice that said "can i really do all this ON MY OWN?!"...
Proudly I can say both boys had a great day, and momma got the house clean whilst Tink slept....
sigh, yeah all is well that ends well ;)

FREEBIE and a BIG announcement!!!!

2007-08-18T21:05:00.000-04:00

wow i should have said BIG announcement, then said freebie b/c that is the order you are gonna get them in ;)
First I want to apologize going MIA...I had 2 sick young'uns (one with a tummy bug, then another with serious headaches for a couple weeks in a row), then a family member went on to be with our Lord after a 10 yr battle with alzhiemers (sp?)....then the whole "back to school" rush started!!!!!
I lost track of my mind, and keeping up with things online went right along with that ;)....
ANYWAY, ty ty ty to those of you who have emailed, instant messeged, and commented to me during the past month.....
oh yeah....uh the big announcement....well yeah....
I AM A DESIGNER NOW!!!!!
After applying at SBB, Oscraps, and OneOfAKindScrapz, I finally have been given the chance I have been praying for!!!!!
Victoria Feemster, owner of www.OneOfAKindScrapz.com (OAKS) graciously took me on!!!!!!
This was a week ago today :) and as of last night, I have my first kit up for sale!!!!!
I feel like a wild hayseed that has blown in the wind a bit and finally found a place to take root and grow! so my first kit is called Bloom Where You Are Planted :) (click on the previews to go directly to the store!)
Element Pack:

and Paper Pack:

i had so much fun making this kit and each pack is only $2!!!!
There will be an alpha to come soon....

now on to what you are most likely here for....

Bloom Where You Are Planted Add-On
:( sorry, this is no longer available as a freebie, but you can still get it for a li'l bit of nothin' if you go to my store http://www.oneofakindscrapz.com/store/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=39(will be in the store on Monday 8/27)

And last, but by NO means least, I just really really want to thank you wonderful guys and gals who really boosted my confidence over the last couple months...it made all the difference in the world :)

Crop Reminder :)

2007-07-31T09:33:00.000-04:00

:) Good Morning all!...Quick reminder, The Scrapbrat Chat happens at 2pm est. time today at Scrapbook-bytes.com (it is a font challenge)...I am the hostess and would sure hate to sit in there by myself! That's the weird thing about hosting anything, it just isn't as much fun for some reason if you are the only one there...hm, curious isn't it?...lol
I also wanted to share an entry I posted on my personal blog the other day, it seems so relevant every day and God really dealt with me on it again today :), but even if your faith is not founded in God the lesson still holds true!
But first, here is a preview of the attendance gift...(there is another gift if you post your layout in the Scrapbrat Chat Gallery at Scrapbook-bytes)

Whatever Is True...
wow I have eaten more humble pie in the last year than I ever thought any one person could eat...
and, subsequently I have felt so low at so many points in the last year that I could barely lift my head up high enough to keep from drowning in my own self doubt...
God has done SO many wonderful things in my life, there is no doubt of that...and a lot of those wonderful things have to do with the change he has made in me and through me...
I was thinking the other day "why is it that I can barely keep my head up when it seems that I have it all?"...then I got into a discussion with a friend who said that they too were struggling...even as far to the point of contemplating suicide...
depression has been "part of my personality" for as long as I can remember and a year or two ago I was diagnosed bipolar...which makes an "easy out" for me to say "well I can't help it when I get like this..." (and by "easy" let me clarify by saying being depressed or bipolar is NEVER easy...it is just that when you "suffer" from these diseases, people just kinda almost expect it and always expect the worst in your personality)...now before I go where I am going with this, let me also say I am NOT saying medication is not necessary or that what I am doing is for everyone (well I mean I of course believe that people should go to God first, medicine 2nd, then follow up with a healthy dose of God as a chaser)....this is just how God has been working with me....
I am reading "Loving God with all Your Mind," and it is amazing that God seems to have spoke to the authors heart so much the way He did to mine :)
Any of you who have read my personal blog for any amount of time know that this is a recurring theme with me....I honestly believe we CHOOSE to be happy/sad/satisfied/discontent even if we don't REALIZE we are choosing that...now i am not repeating the horrible mantra "just get over it" because I do NOT believe (bipolar or not) that if you suffer from depression (chemical or environmental) that it is something you just choose to get over....I am saying that I can choose, on my bad days to say "life sucks...I am miserable...I am just going to be this way forever...everyone can see how horrid and miserable I am...I don't now, nor will ever amount to anything" or I can FORCE myself to see it for what it is, a bad day where the chemicals in my brain and body have went wonky and a day that will eventually turn to night, and a night that will turn to daybreak again, this is true of Christians and non-Christians alike, you don't HAVE to be a Christian to choose to be content (lol it just makes it a lot easier in my humble opinion)...and when God started dealing with ME on this I honestly said to Him with a snicker and a sneer, "yeah right, okay, whatever......" and i felt that way every time I tried this for over a month (lol and that has been 6 months ago and I STILL feel that way some days) before it started becoming almost 2nd nature
Philipians 4:8 says that we are to only to think about "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things".....that is sound advice no matter who you are....
I am notorious for thinking "ugh, they said this so they must MEAN this..." and letting it eat at me for DAYS or WEEKS....or for being somewhere and just KNOWING that people are staring at me b/c of my weight or appearance (I have anxiety attacks b/c of this one)...or for just KNOWING that if someone is not being really sweet to me it HAS to be because i have done something horribly wrong and they are going to be cool towards me from now on....
Those sound like exaggeration, but they are about as true to how I feel as I can explain, and THAT my dear friends is how depression keeps someone locked up and tied down...
now I am learning to look at those same thoughts and compare them to Philipians 4:18.....are those thoughts TRUE (and real, as in the true reality of the situation?)....I cannot TRULY know what someone is thinking, so why bother trying to decipher it, if they are mad or meaning to say one thing I have to choose to believe they would tell me because if they don't it is their deal not mine....
is it noble? trust me, there is NOTHING "noble" about some of the things I let myself believe people are thinking about me...
is it right? well this can go 2 ways...for one, IF they were thinking that way about me it would not be RIGHT of them...and 2, how do i know if i am even right about WHAT they are thinking?!
is it pure? to be pure is to be without blemish or fault and the way i feel about myself is definitely not always that way :P
is it lovely? um no, or i wouldn't feel BADLY about it
is it admirable? hm do you admire someone who is always saying "oh well....sigh....my life is never going right....nothing good ever happens for me....why should I feel like it should...."....no, even though you may love that person, you definitely don't admire their company b/c it begins to wear YOU down...I don't want to be that person...
is it excellent or praiseworthy? obvious answers huh?
So today I am choosing to believe whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent, and praiseworthy....
If I start to dwell on something that is not I can refocus myself to say "ok well the grass is a lovely shade of green, my kids are gorgeous to me, the sky looks blue/gray (this is true, somewhat boring, but true)" and not put a "but" on any of those things :D....if i think "but" i have to purposefully put it where it belongs, which is behind me...lol get it...butt, behind me...sigh yeah i crack myself up....
well I have went on enough for now, believe it or not I woke up in a REALLY sucky mood today, so thanks for letting me get this out and helping ME to feel better already ;)
Have a great day, if you choose to....
Remember: no one and nothing can make you feel inferior without your permission....
:) ~fantacy

FREEBIE....A Different Sort of Fantacy

2007-07-26T12:54:00.000-04:00

:) Thanks to a couple of gals at SBB I have really started thinking outside of my comfortable little scrapping box and YOU are going to reap a couple of the rewards :)
Today's freebie is something i have never completely done, but wow it was FUN!!! This might become a new thing for me ;)
And just for clarification, my name is spelled Fantacy (with a C) so the title of the freebie is not a typo :D....just making sure i didn't look illiterate :P...
Here is the layout I did using it

And here is your freebie (does anyone know why i can't link the page to my image anymore here in blogger?)
>>>A Different Sort Of Fantacy<<<

Template Preview :)

2007-07-24T11:21:00.000-04:00

:) This is the attendance gift AND the inspiration for this week's ScrapbratChat :)
Join me at 2 pm eastern time for the full size 12x12 template (in .psd AND .png formats)...:) Hope to see you there! The addy is www.scrapbook-bytes.com just click on the "community" tab, then on the Chat Room :)....

Scrapbrats Unite!!!!

2007-07-24T03:52:00.001-04:00

:) Don't forget the Scrapbrat Chat, today at 2pm eastern time :)
if you are afraid you will forget, go to the chat room now Scrapbook-bytes Chat Room
and log in...then turn up your speakers and you will hear when everyone starts coming in :D.....
I will have a template for you this week :D that is our theme for this chat (I always give a small template, but this will be a full sized 12x12 template)....all you will have to do is use it to create a layout, post that layout in the Scrapbrat Chat gallery and you will get a freebie the following week :)....
I might even have to have a little freebie up for you on here later today :D....we will see :D....
Smiles & Hugs!
~fantacy

hillbilly scraps from a hillbilly sweetpea

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

Loose Teeth Vintage Inspired Sundress with Petticoat GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Ressurection Cookies (Easter Cookies)

VERY long overdue "Thanks"...

Contemporary Portrait 6...

:) Please visit...

Contemporary Portrait 5...snow day!

Contemporary Portrait 4 (I missed 3)....

Contemporary Portrait 2...

Didn't make the 365 Cut....

Contemporary Portrait 1...

Christmas Card '08 (ala family style)

My dream?...

Give a li'l get a li'l...er um a LOT!

My submission for Portrait contest :)

Grosgrain is at it again...:D

Narrowed it down to 3....

Do YOU love me?!

No Turkeyday Pics?!

I just realized...

My Li'l Sketti Face...

Can we say "C-U-T-E and WARM?!"

Video....I.A.M.D.I.A.B.E.T.I.C. You Know Wat Dat Means!

God loves me so much...

Wordless Wednesday....

NSBR but OMGosh I want one (or 2) of these!!!!

it's a boo-tiful life :)

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

another chance to win AND save money...

More layouts (3..4...um FIVE from last night/today!!!)

Blog gift...aka "freebie" :D

2 more layouts?!

:) finally got some scrapping done!

yeah another contest link

ok another plug for a chance to win :)

Chance to win.....

If only in my dreams.....

ok totally quick and totally kinda random....freebie involved

what is it with me...

2 months?!

Easter.....Resurrection Cookies

My baby turns 13......

who all is in the ADSR 3?!

WARNING....tons of pics!!!

Response to "the Tagger"...

2 posts in 2 days with 2 different freebies?!

A quick freebie & a question :)

An Announcement & a Sale!!!!

Christmas & Raggedy Pics

the oddest ways....

blogging...hm....lol oh yeah freebies too

belated freebie *blush*

:) long time no blog...

Love, Prayers, and a Freebie ....lol

You are loved....

'fraidy cat...'fraidy cat....'fraidy cat freebie :)

TWO freebies...Cruisin' Susie Mini-mini kit & Chark Byte Calendars!

24 hour FREEBIE.....

Don't forget to grab the freebie....

FREEBIE and a BIG announcement!!!!

Crop Reminder :)

FREEBIE....A Different Sort of Fantacy

Template Preview :)

Scrapbrats Unite!!!!

belated freebie blush