twenty-ten

I have to apologize for not doing anything special here at the blog for Christmas or this past week. We've been taking turns with getting sick, getting better, then someone else catching it...the cycle continuing....etc.

I miss not scrapping...it's been a week!

I wanted to stop in and wish You all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

2010 has brought me many things, lots of surprises (both good and bad), lots of new experiences, beginnings, and now with the end of the year, new endings.

I'm not going to start reflecting on anything because my one aim for 2011 is FOCUS. I'm totally changing what I've been focusing on! I'm looking forward to setting priorities, trimming off the unimportant, so that whatever it is I do, whatever it is that 2011 brings to me will have all of my attention, and my focus (that word again)!

so leaving you with a few new pix...

I have a feeling his turning 12 will make me keep a closer eye on him. he's already talking about girls...and when he can :gulp: date!

I don't think much is going to change about them...they still love to play pranks on one another...
Have a happy and safe time celebrating!!! See you next year!!!! ;)

no need to file a missing person's report....

Hey peeps!

How did you send Christmas? Hope it was happy, full of cheer, and most of all relaxed and laid back!

Mine was!!!!

So this is what I've been busy with:

the tree...this year the hubby decided the DR would be the best spot. not happening next year. LOL

then Sunday, we went to NYC..yes, in the middle of a blizzard!

and now I'm nursing this cute baby...she's caught a bug and was up all night calling earl. :( poor thing.

how sweet it is....

to be loved by you.

does this layout need anymore explanation?

yes, I'm enjoying working with these Sweet season paper from Webster's Pages. The papers have such beautiful graphics, who needs to add embellies? Isn't this photo of my girls the sweetest ever?

She's full of character!

Hey peeps!!!

I've been sick...I know, AGAIN! I got all better, then DH gets it, sleeps breathing all up in my face and guess who's caught the cooties all over again. :(

meanwhile he's all better....

I was just hopping in quickly to share a little something something I am pretty excited about...
ready to see????

and some yummilicious close ups!

what can I say, these sweet season paper from the always gorgeous Webster's Pages have such a delicious color scheme to them....I couldn't just use them for holiday scrapping, I had to use them for the always colorful, always (ok...not always but most of the time) delightful, Teeniest terror, Arianna!!!
As you can see from the series of photos I have here...this girl is a trip! she does many many naughties and well, turns up the charm to get out of it. I have to say, most of the time: It works! It's a good thing that Daddy isn't such a pushover, or she'd take over the world!

Every Bit (and a toot!)

:) Surprised to see a Saturday post?

well don't be...this one was scheduled...because I knew it was going to be crazy and because I have a pretty little diddy to show you....

and a close up:

yes, I had to show these pretty flowers. love tulle!!!!

This layout was made using a quote by Erma Bombeck:

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say 'I used everything You gave me'. "


This was a prompt over at MPTH...and I knew I wanted to base this on my being a mom. Honestly...I really don't know what my talents are...but I do know I can be a great mom...and this is what I am pouring my "every single BIT" into....

I used a sketch from Creative Scrappers...check it out here.

Guess what???

I made DT at Scrap Gal!!!! Yay, I'm thrilled!!!

Thanks for looking, have a great weekend!

One Purpose

happy Friday!!!

Am I the only one who looks forward to the weekend? Even though mine looks like it'll be crazy...I just always do.

This Sunday will be our very first service over at the newly constructed facility...we've waited over 5 years for this and wow, I know that come Sunday, I will be an emotional mess. We're crossing over to the promised land, people!!!

Anyways, I am sooo very happy with seeing the response to the blog hop My Paper Treehouse has had. I'm going to make my way through it as well, (I have been busy with work) so all of the comments are very appreciated.

Now you know I just had to try out the challenge we have...right? I was thinking that making a layout with so many specifications was going to be one hard mamma jamma to crank out. <------Oh gosh...did I just say that??? :blush:

ready to see my creation?????

I'm ready to show it! LOL!!!

and just a teensy closeup:

Love how I made my little banner out of photo corners? Punched that butterfly out of a tag, too! Gotta love repurposing!!!

And that quote? Can you see it? It totally made me use this photo of my teeniest terror plunging down the slide headfirst. She's the epitome of living life recklessly! Psst...and probably the source of her dad's grays!!! LOL

All jokes aside, I aspire to this. The way a child jumps into things wholeheartedly...this is how I want to jump in!

Well, enjoy the weekend!!! Mine may be a crazy one....but I still love them! TTYL!

get outta town!!!

Hi peoples!

If you're here for the blog hop, look at the post prior to this.


every once and a while as I scrap, I like to have the laptop open...so just in case I need a sketch, or I'm scrapping using a prompt...I can look it up quick-like.

I also like to go to manufacturer blogs, see what's happening and guess what???

I was a Friday Fave. go check!!!!

It was unexpected and very cool. I think, anyways!

good night. Now back to your regularly scheduled program.........

MPTH bloh hop :)

Good Morning! I'm so glad that you're here blog hopping with us today! You should have gotten here from Tabitha's Blog. If not, it's Okay, make sure you start here and make your way back.

We' re celebrating that God has blessed My Paper Treehouse with an awesome design team. Please hop along with us and visit each of the DT members, so this way you can get to know us all a bit better.  Each of the DT members have a wonderful story to share with you about what God has done and is doing in their lives... these are God's fingerprints.

I wanted to share a layout I created some time ago using a prompt from AAM. It is based on flaws. When I saw the prompt I had a list a mile long on my perceived flaws and thought...wow, do I have my pick. But you know what, the more I thought about it, the worse I felt. Why? Because a very popular bible verse:

Psalms 139:13-16: "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."


popped into my head and it made me think...what am I saying about my Creator? That put me to shame right away. Yes, the thoughts pop in every now and again...but then all I have to do is remember those words that King David wrote.Am I still hard on myself? At times. But not as much. Being able to share this is helping, and I'm so excited to be  a part of My Paper Tree house. My hopes is that I continue to grow, and get to meet more like minded crafters. We can be a blessing for each other!!!


Now here's a teensy blog hop challenge for you.... as you make your stop at each blog, there will be an item that you need to include in a layout especially created for this blog hop.

SO what element do you need included? mine is  LACE.

 All layouts need to be linked up on the My Paper Treehouse Blog by Sunday the 19th 11:59pm PST. One layout will be randomly chosen to win a prize and make sure check back on Monday because we have a special surprise for you.


Not only do we have RAKS from the DT members, a prize for creating layout, but we have a Grand Prize too!!!

Artful Delight has been kind & generous enough to sponsor the blog hop. All you have to do is comment on all the blogs along the hop!


SO where's your next stop going to be? Dolores!



Dont forget you need to leave a comment on each of the blogs and collect the different items for the Blog Hop Challenge Layout. All layouts and comments are due by:

Sunday the 19th 11:59pm PST.

Don't forget to stop by on Monday to see our special surprise....

popping in quickly!

to say hello:)
& to show off a layout created with SFTIO's wonder kit:

if you look carefully....I actually did some sewing on my layout. :O I stitched on the sequins. I originally planned on making the sequins more visible...but after pricking my fingers a bit, I decided less was just going to have to be more....LOL. I kept it simple and neat. I wanted these pretty Mitten weather paper  to shine.

Also wanted to share:

be back tomorrow...there's going to be a special blog hop, and I'm going to be a part of it. :) yay!

some news :)

I'm feeling better now. I'm just trying to catch up on everything.

I'm working on some layouts and a special project for something....:)

and also will be working on this:

Hope I can see you there!

Change

still feeling pretty miserable. :( my scrappy desk has bits and pieces waiting for me to work on but I have no energy at all to start. The desire is there, however. Hopefully this weekend I'll be 100% again and can once again be scrappy productive.

Here today not only to complain...LOL...but to show you a layout I absolutely love....that I made with the SFTIO Wonder kit. I think it's clear to all how much I admire and love my DH...he's so awesome....so of course, I had to scrap about him using this kit.

ready to see?

and a close up

I, of course, had to journal about the change that has taken place in the man I call hubby. He was always a good person, BUT really rough around the edges. No one could get over on him, he had a mouth on him, a bad temper...to say the least. This change in him happened gradually...as he mellowed out a bit, I exerted some patience, and finally (the biggest thing to influence him) his becoming saved.

This prompts me to ask you a question: Is there a change in your life, or in someone you know that has made you think: "what on EARTH???"

I'd LOVE to hear about it. :) yeah, I'm nosey like that!!!

I used a sketch  from here. That's what inspired the grid!!! :)

Thanks for looking!!!

two

these past two days have been miserable for me, so no scrapping going on at the teeny terrors household. :/

So instead of scrappy goodness...I'll answer some questions here. In case you want to know. :)

1) Two everyday things I couldn't live without:
coffee and medicine

2) Two of my favorite songs:
do I really have to pick just two? "Surprises" by Israel Houghton, and "wait" by G1C

3) Two things I want to do before I die:
become a DT member for a scrappy manufacturer.(Oh how I wish!!!!)
become a size 8 again.

4) Two things I worry about:
my family...and that things will be OK for them.
my kids.

5) Two stores I shop at:
Target
JCP

6) Two things that scare me:
bugs...but spiders are the worst
dying at a young age...but this is mainly because of my kids.

7) Two snacks I could eat everyday:
popcorn
chocolate

8) Two people I'd be lost without:
seriously....do you have to guess?
it's gotta be more than 2 here...the hubby and my 4 teenyterrors!

9) Two nicknames I've been given:
Nee-nee Thanks, Danny-O
Her Royal Highness. It's a long story...or is it?

10) next Two places I want to go on vacation:
Hmmm...
Puerto Rico
Italy

what do you say?

Is creating "beautiful art" more important than the process of creating?

I'm thinking that this is all in the eye of the creator....

For me, the act of creating  something beautiful isn't soo important.  What's more important is the feeling I get from it...


I create layouts for various reasons. To preserve a memory. To leave a legacy. To vent/de-stress/unwind....etc. 


I like to finish something and feel happy with what I did. 


Yes, I admit that I like people ooo'ing and ah'ing over my layouts, leaving comments telling me all about how much they loved it. But ultimately...for me, the pressure of trying to make something beautiful kills the creative buzz I get.


The ones I pour my heart into...wow......


So...what do you think?

Feeling just a bit under the weather...:(

but still have a layout to share! :)

I have been in a scrapping frenzy lately, and well...I just wanted to take advantage of the lil old mojo before it makes it's great escape and goes off to visit someone else. :P

This layout I used pretty papers from Lilybee (Yes, my darling hubby took advantage of that warehouse sale...gotta love him!) When I saw this line I loved it but wasn't too sure on how to scrap with it. I was a bit scared...but I think I did it some justice.

Those adorable kids? They're my brother's! Remember I blogged about their surprise visit? (Or did I?) well, auntie snatched them up and brought them to work. Yep. Since I no longer have babies, I didn't have many toys...but they quickly found something to play with: Lock parts!!! (OK, no small screws, just the latches...&&& Auntie kept a close eye....)

This layout is a close contender for one of my faves :)

Oh...and guess what? I used a sketch!!! click to see what the DT made!!!

surprises

can you believe that is is DECEMBER 1st??? This year has flew by so quickly. I often wonder how time manages to fly by like that.

The first is reveal day over at SFTIO...so here is the first layout created by Moi....

supplies used: SFTIO Wonder 12/10 kit, paper& trim:websters pages, letters: sassafras, chipboard, liquid pearls. not inc.in kit: glitter (Martha Stewart) & pens: signo unibal (white gel ink) Marvy (black ink) 

The title I took from Israel Houghton's song...part of the lyrics is in my journaling. To me, I find it astonishing how when words elude me, a song can express exactly how it is I'm feeling.

wow, can I say that I love these papers??! They're right up my alley!!!

here's a sneak peek of a little something I worked on last night....

Annie Blackberry Does It In Style!

Genuine Vintage Hand-Carved and Hand-Drawn bird on Brass Bow Brooch - $35

Snow White Locket - $38

Pink Glass and Gold Plate Bow Pendant - $40

$25

Acid Wash Rose Rings - $25

Mini Working Harmonica Pendant - $40

Shopping Basket Earrings - $26