This is the stuff....

Just wanted to share this song...love how it puts so many things into perspective!

 happy listening!

what? Another Mini???!!!

yep...you know, being a part of a DT is really an honor for me? I love that while I get my name on a blog and my pic/bio plastered on the MB, I get products that I love to work with, and some that challenge me. I think that's cool. getting challenges thrown in every now and then...because lots of times those are the projects I end up totally loving.

Being on a DT also pushes me to go beyond the 12x12 page...yes, they're cool to make. But doing little projects like mini's attempting cards (still working towards making more of them) makes me feel sooo accomplished! Like YAY!!!

take a look at this latest mini  I created with my March DT kit from Scrapgal, using BG.

the front cover















I wanted this to look like a hogde podge collection, using some fave pix and awesome heartfelt quotes. it sits on my scrappy desk by the window as a little reminder of what family's all about! what are your fave things to make mini's about?

feeling just a wee bit sneaky-ish

Happy Monday....

well...that's an oxymoron if I ever heard one...LOL. Mondays always drag for me.

just wanted to share this: I'll be putting it on my side bar as well...
I love playing along and reading the comments, they really leave a smile on my face, leave me feeling like I connected in some way some how with someone. KWIM?

ready for the sneaky peeks? these are of my projects which will be revealed on the 1st for Scrap Gal. I love reveal days, it's like I'm working hard toward something and can't wait to show it off....



I also wanted to share a little toot:
you can find me here and here in the basic grey gallery!!! using my scrap gal DT layouts. isn't it exciting!!!

welcome aboard!

Welcome to the Heartache No One Sees Faith Blog Hop.

(If you are hopping with us you should have come from Selina's blog). if you just happened to find this post, please go to www.mypapertreehouse.com so that you can start the hop from the very beginning. :)


Let's get down to business!!!

Women have a very unique way of being strong, yet gentle. through this process we find ourselves many times hiding heartaches that truly affect us, but somehow we cannot bring ourselves to talk about. Sometimes it is because of "what would people say" or because we want to keep a certain image, or even because we are trying to keep our loved ones from becoming worried: we hold on to the heartache and even come to believe that "this is as good as it will ever get". Today we are out in the internet laying our hearts bare before the world. We have come to understand that God IS who He says He is and indeed He will complete the work He has begun, and so we lay our heartache before Him in hopes that He will meet us here. As you go through this hop, take the time to think about your own hidden heartache, and if any of our blogs motivate you to speak about it, leave us a comment or even send us an email. As sisters we should remain together and encourage each other to continue the walk towards His arms: the only place we will find rest and comfort.



Here's how the hop works:

Like last time we have some GRAND Prizes to share with you, plus most of the blog owners are willing to share some RAK with you. In order to qualify for the GRAND Prizes you ought to leave a comment under this thread and become a follower of this blog (if you are not one yet). We are asking that you would also become a follower of paper Tree House Studio on Facebook so that you can stay updated with our challenges and contests. In order to qualify for the RAKS i ask that you would also become a follower of those blogs and leave them a comment with your thoughts about the project they might have created or the story they were willing to share (if any). It can be very humbling to share our hearts with the world, yet the Bible says that our troubles come so that we can console another going through the same thing. My prayer is that the Lord would use this for His Glory as He heals all of our hearts.


Now for the GRAND Prizes:
Paper Tree House Studio:
Scrapbook News and Review Magazine: One Year Subscription
Bella Blvd.: $45 retail value worth of their yummy product
Echo Park: Love Line
Scrapbooks & Stuff: Cricut Your Story
Punky Sprouts:
The Paper Blossom Shop: $25 gift certificate to their shop.
remember that in order to be considered a winner, you should leave a comment here and become a follower. :) It is that simple.



As you hop through the blogs you will see some very open lives, and others that are not as much. We are all being molded everyday more into His liking. Know that I have been praying for each of the participants, and as you begin to open your heart, I will be praying for you as well. It is my desire that the Lord would begin to build a community of bold women that would be willing to show their weaknesses so that in turn He can be their strength. Maybe next month we can hop through your blog as well.. This will happen every month on the very last weekend of the month, so please plan to be here learning about Him and about His love for YOU and His commitment to make you His!

Here is the list of bold and beautiful women that were willing to lay it all out there:



My Paper Tree House

Nana CampanaRebecca

Sueli Pinheiro

Kacee

Jessie

Selina
Arlene <-----this lady sounds familiar!
Natalie

Christel

Bonnie
Dolores
Kari
Tania



Here is my story:


As mentioned earlier, we ladies have the capabilities of being so very strong and gentle all at the same time. "Good Girls" are those who endure, make no complains, keeps it all bottled up inside, and just handle things on their own. At least this is the impression I had. No matter what it was that I went through, I always masked my hurt with a smile. A lot of times no one really knew what was going on with me but my soppy pillow at night and God.

Now I know that it doesn't make me a bad person to air out how I feel (as long as I do it in the right way), or to defend myself. I shouldn't just stay there and take it, or just keep it all bottled up inside of me.  My smile is a genuine smile!

 



Products used: Lily bee design: Paper, Tim Holtz: tickets, film strips, distressed ink, My Little shoebox: tiny alpha stickers, Tattered Angels: glimmer mists (pink & grey) Sketch: Creative Scrappers

some closeups:

                                    


Thanks for participating with us... Now hop on over to Natalie's blog !

what have I been doing?

I haven't been posting as much...and i feel like I've been such a neglectful blogger!!!

So...I decided to photograph some things that I have been busy with! LOL

I've been working on church bulletins! So far I've been asked to do up the Senior Saints, Women's mins., helped out with Singles Mins.and this is the last one, sunday school! It looks amaturish to me...but then again, these are my first attempts to do bulletins, ever!!! LOL. I have to say my cricut has been getting a LOT more use lately!!! I had sooo much fun doing up the sunday school one, the director was specific in what she wanted: she wanted it to look like a party invite!!! my lovely hubby has ordered a cartridge for me so I can add on to it (party hats and streamers) yay!!!


I've been doing humongous "thinking of you" cards for members who've been ill. So far I've done about 5...do you recognize "vintage" Chatterbox paper I have been hoarding?

too bad I didn't think to photograph the other things before I turned them in...

Come back tomorrow!!! I'm participating in a blog hop and would love to see you here!!!

Take care :)

an easy technique*** as posted on the scrap gal blog!

Do you have those itty bitty containers of alcohol ink collecting dust because you have no idea what to do with them?

I decided to play along and see what easy way I can use them for a layout. Want to see?

first, I took my applicater tool and used my blue ink and a gold color. Just be careful not to let them mix.

then I stamped the applicator down onto my cardstock

I added a metallic gold mixture to add pizzaz

and this is how it looks on the layout

Supply list: Paper, letter stickers (large) Basic Grey. small letters, cosmo cricket. chipboard, American crafts. flower: Maya road

You see that "doily" in the layout? I was a part of packaging that some prima flowers came in. I cut a piece off and decided to see how the alcohol ink would react.

This is what it looked like after brushing it on. Alcohol inks dry really fast, so you can see a bit of streaking. I wasn't looking for a perfect look.

hope you're inspired to dust off stash that's collecting dust in your scrappy area, as well!!!!
TTFN!

Arlene

feeling mopey?


sometimes when my day feels like the worst one ever, I see someone, hear of someone who's going through something way much worse...and it makes me so very appreciative of who and what I have in my life. It makes me think:

"hey you! stop being mopey! it can be worse! you can be going through what so and so is going through right now! snap out of it!".

a neighbor of ours at our workplace lost her husband just before Christmas. she's very sick and depended on him so much. he used to take care of the building they lived in, cleaned up for the landlord, took care of business for him...and now that he's gone, the landlord's trying to put the poor lady out. he has a smear campaign, going to everyone who would listen (even come into my shop daily) to him hem and haw and complain. He's stalking her, getting peole from the county to interview her claiming that she's an alcoholic...she stopped drinking and now he's calling again claiming she's mentally ill.

the poor woman just wants to mourn her loss in peace...and the man shut her heat off, drastically lowered the temperature on the water heater, and shouts at her in the middle of the walmart parking lot...screaming out all of her business.

the sad part...people in the neighborhhod don't know her...and sympathize with HIM.

Life is unjust...and at times I want to rip my hair out because I see so many creeps doing things like this to people who are defenseless and get away with it. She came into my shop today, a crying mess...and my heart broke for her. Because while my life has its little amounts of troubles....her life seems so bleak right now. It makes my little issues look pathetic in comparison.

You





ere was Pike River mines – our hearts sunk as the hours, then days, then weeks, now months ticked by. Then there were the floods and fires that ravaged Australia, then there were the earthquakes in Haiti, Brazil, our own Christchurch and now more terror in Japan. For us personally, 1 km either way, two beautiful women and one lovely child, had their lives cruelly taken by people they knew. What on this earth is one to do?

It is easy to grow despondent or ambivalent. To cling to what you have and put your head in the sand, is a normal and self-preserving response. So is rushing everywhere, trying to save the world and exhausting yourself in the process.

This week it all caved in on me, I felt like the things I did for people were a drop in a very huge bucket. I wished I could have some sort of super-powers that enabled me to reach out and fix this broken world. I ended up in depression, and staring into space. My own problems, so small in the equation, were magnified hugely because I just didn’t feel I could cope.

Then I realised something: You and I can’t save the world – it is not our job or within our reach BUT we can have a tremendous impact just by doing what is within our capability to do. If we all do this, this world will change and change for the better.

At the very least we can pray. We can pour forth the heartbreak and have it moulded into something beautiful.

This one quote from Helen Keller, provided kindly by my friend Claire, made me realise how truly amazing we are, how truly amazing YOU can be:

“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”

YOU, my friend, are amazing.

Love,

Annie :)

P.S. The amazing artwork is my husband's, Andrew Killick.





smile......

This is one word I have to keep repeating over and over....
SMILE!

Why's that?
Because I'm going through scrappy withdrawals....
and last week was one busy/hectic/crazy/high-stress/ everything got dumped on me week...one in which one day it got to be too much and I broke down and cried.
Yep...I was at work...got some terrible news, got a phone call from a person calling about work, wasn't specific, and took exception to my asking her questions to give her a price...she got nasty and that's when I hung up the phone and bawled.
Tears coming down my face as I cut keys for people...my daughter being home sick from school asking me what was wrong and I couldn't even talk kind of week.

So I say just SMILE.

Do you know I joined the Choir at my church? My hubby's been trying to get me to join since we started attending. LOL.SO...this Sunday we went and sang to someone very special who's going through something terrible. She has cancer...and has been fighting it for a long time. But she never complains...and even through her weakened condition, you can feel her sweet spirit...and how she worried about US. I couldn't contain the tears...I was so touched...I don't do well in situations like this...and briefly wished I could be tougher and cooler in times like these.I'm such a cry baby!

Then yesterday AM...as I was getting ready to go to work...I open up the little gate on my porch, take a step and go plummeting down....my right side is all bruised, swollen....and I thought....

Smile! It could be worse!


Okay...so those were my 2nd thoughts! My 1st were: "OUCH, what the heeeeeeck just happened???!!!!".

So this layout is my 2nd created for ScrapGal...using the manu of the month, BG and their Urban Prairie Line. I love, love, love the bright pretty colors, how paired up with white they look phenomenal...and how my daughter's bright smile and clothing compliment them.

So...basically all in a nutshell....what makes me feel better? a smile.

not just any old smile...but a teeny terrors' smile. they can make me melt and help make everything feel better.

I am feeling a bit torn about something....a DT call has been placed...by a manu who I absolutely LOVE....and OMG...my confidence isn't all there anymore...and it's kinda disuading me from entering. This is a huge dilemna, because I know if I don't go for it, I will torture myself with the what if's....and if I don't get in...which is highly likely to be the case...I know trillions of crafters feel the same way I do about this manu....:sigh: what would you do???

have a good day, everyone! Don't forget to SMILE!!!!!

come help celebrate!!!

Hi all!!!

today's one of my fave days: FRIDAY!

Guess what today brings?


My dear friend, Nancy, who I met at SFTIO, is celebrating 1000 posts!

There will be prizes, and if I know her, they'll be super cool, fabulous, and awesome!!!

Go on over and help her celebrate!!!

back to Basics over at Scrapgal!!!!

For the month of March, the DT has been each given line from Basic Grey to work with. I got Urban Prairie.

The colors and graphics are sooo very pretty, and I have to admit...a bit challenging for me at times, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE that I was challenged (yes, I am a masochist!) because the layouts I got from them I absolutely LOVE!!!!

wanna see my 1st one?

this one is part of the color challenge at scrapgal, it's my first attempt at putting a color scheme together. :) Hope you play along!


well, thanks for peeking, hope your week is going great!

another guess who.....

you will find here!!! <------ click on it, you know you want to!!!

exciting, isn't it????

wanna see a bigger view?


This was my other exciting news!!! Toot, toot!!!

come back tomorrow for my March reveals!
Also, a dear friend of mine is celebrating a milestone, and you are invited!!! It'll be this Friday....


have a spectacular day!!!!

close buddies

It's the first of the month (AGAIN!!!) and I have yet to reveal one of my February scrap gal layouts!!!

This one I love, it's of my 2 teeniest terrors: Arianna & Tyler.

using graphic 45 le romantique!


did lots of fussy cutting, used glossy accents to make the roses pop....I love the way this layout came out.

come back tomorrow for a view of my march layouts!!! March's manu is BASIC GREY, and we're going back to basics!