Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas ! I am so blessed to have faithful readers and I apologize for not keeping up with posting. I have some exciting news and will post later about it. I am having the family Christmas feast tomorrow and am looking forward to it. So fun having Ben to see Christmas with new eyes. I have stockings in the morning and then we have breakfast . After, I am cooking a prime rib, shrimp stuffed baked potatoes, salad, rolls, green bean casserole, tons of sauteed mushrooms and a black forest cake. Yum! Hugs! I got this recently and wanted to share it.
by Max Lucado
You are in your car driving home. Thoughts wander to the game you want to see or meal you want to eat, when suddenly a sound unlike any you've ever heard fills the air
The sound is high above you. A trumpet? A choir? A choir of trumpets? You don't know, but you want to know. So you pull over, get out of your car, and look up. As you do, you see you aren't the only curious one The roadside has become a parking lot Car doors are open,and people are staring at the sky. Shoppers are racing out of the grocery store. The Little League baseball game across the street has come to a halt. Players and parents are searching the clouds. And what they see, and what you see, has never before been seen.
As if the sky were a curtain, the drapes of the atmosphere part. A brilliant light spills onto the earth. There are no shadows. None. From whence came the light begins to tumble a river of color spiking crystals of every hue ever seen and a million more never seen. Riding on the flow is an endless fleet ofangels. They pass through the curtains one myriad at a time, until they occupy every square inch of the sky. North. South. East. West. Thousands of silvery wings rise and fall in unison,and over the sound of the trumpets, you can hear thecherubim and seraphim chanting, Holy, holy, holy. The final flank of angels is followed by twenty-foursilver-bearded elders and a multitude of souls who join theangels in worship. Presently the movement stops and the trumpets are silent,leaving only the triumphant triplet: Holy, holy, holy.Between each word is a pause. With each word, a profound reverence. You hear your voice join in the chorus. You don't know why you say the words, but you know you must. Suddenly, the heavens are quiet. All is quiet. The angels turn, you turn, the entire world turns andthere He is.
Jesus.
Through waves of light you see the silhouetted figureof Christ the King. He is atop a great stallion, and the stallion is atop a billowing cloud. He opens his mouth, and you are surrounded by his declaration: I am the Alpha and the Omega. The angels bow their heads. The elders remove their crowns. And before you is a Figure so c onsuming that you know, instantly you know: Nothing else matters. Forget stock markets and school reports. Sales meetings and football games. Nothing is newsworthy.. All that mattered, matters no more.... for Christ has come. .

fa- la -la -not

credits- sara carling Amelie kit, Sausan's house and book, fonts- vaguely repulsive, Ck mama O , glider girls

Tried to upload pics to my slide today and it would not let me and nothing worked. So I had to make a new one. But- that is a good thing as I had not kept up with it and now I have a complete gallery on there. So - a blessing in disguise. This layout was for a studio start challenge at Scrapbookgraphics. I did it quite a few months ago and am sad to report - I have not changed- maybe next year?
Last night my son and his girlfriend slid off the road and were stuck in a field- about 30 yards in. It was about 7 degrees and my son did not have a coat. They tried getting kids to help them and finally called my DH about 2 hours later,So John went and drug them out with his truck. Their car was too damaged to drive and they had to get it towed - but praise God they are both fine!!!!!!! I was hoping they would have learned a few things - but am not holding my breath!
I have 2 Christmas gifts bought and my decorations half up, the lights outside do not work and the middle of my inside prelit tree is out. My DD's birthday party is several weeks late too.I wish I could postpone Christmas this year. lol Hoping tomorrow the ice will melt. My dd's friend's Mom just got stuck in a ditch and I had to take her to the school. anyway need to clean up my computer. fa la la

keep forgetting to post!!!!

credits-Sausan's altered quick pages pressed flowers,schnipp schnapp flowers, old money pin, , studio girls basics date stamp, Maya's art trash letters. Fonts, bookman antiqua

Where have I been? Oh my time flies! Well worked tons of overtime during Thanksgiving and then we had Ben's birthday party on Saturday. Seems a blur. I can't believe it has been a year since Ben was born. I feel like I have aged 10 years for his one. I bent over to turn on my pc and my back went out- went to the chiropractor yesterday . Pretty funny , but all I want for christmas is not a fancy smelling lotion but a big bottle of BioFreeze!!!!! LOL ( it is like Ben Gay)

Today is Emily's birthday and the poor thing will have to wait for her party. We are getting hit by a major winter storm with ice, sleet and snow - they say up to a foot! What a change as it was 65 degrees earlier in the week.

My son's leg is on the mend and will be able to play his first games in Basketball. But since he missed so much practice, he has to play the first 2 for the JVarsity. I love to see him play. He is so talented and 6 foot 4. Emily begins volleyball this week too. I am so busy now (December is crazy anyway) I can't imagine what 2 full game schedules will be like- with a baby. Oh well, I shall be like Scarlett O'Hara and worry about it tomorrow!

Again, thanks to all for your kindness and support since I was not picked to sell at SA- . I am not unhappy about it and pretty well relieved. So many thanks and hugs. I will sell my designs one day.;o)

Currently I am taking the mentor-protege program at Digiscrapdesigner . It is a self paced (yeah) program and I hope to learn a lot. Here is a layout we had to do of ourselves-groan. Anyway, I was feeling quirky- can you tell? LOL Can imagine the comments I will get about this- I probably broke every conventional rule in it!

I lost!

Just want to thank everyone for the terrific response to my Apprentice kit!!!!!!! I so appreciate everyone who voted for me and bought my kit!!!! I also want to thank those that sent me such sweet comments!!!! A big hug to all!! I am fine with the decision as the timing would have been awful! I can barely keep up with the house, Ben into everything and all the activities that JD and Em are in! December usually stresses me out and starting a new business would have probably pushed me to the edge! Being so busy and not getting much sleep - do not help the creativity department. Being in the contest did get my name out there- I got a design offer and notes from ladies that want a spot on my future creative team. I placed this in God's hands from the start, and He has always been faithful to guide my paths. I can look back and remember so many times He has closed doors only to open a better one later. I also need to gain more experience designing. I also want to congratulate the talented ladies that won!!!!!!!! ( I honestly have to say that I am relieved to have some free time with no deadline,no advertising- my family needs a lot from me right now!}
I found out this week that JD tore his calf muscle :O( It was so dissapointing ,as he is excited about BB season. But he should be able to play - takes a good 4 weeks to heal and he starts therapy Monday. Em had to be at school at 7 am for a literary contest , took ben to my MIL's, drove to another town for the event, went to the bank and got some groceries and picked up Ben. He is cutting more teeth and was up all night. I then installed satellite raddio in my van- not easy. lol We had to rearrange all our furniture and baricade everything since Ben is into anything not bolted down. I hate this stage! He turned one on Friday- but we are celebrating next Sat. Our floor plan is open and a nightmare for us! Enough rambling- oh - I picked up Sarah McLachlan's Wintersong - Christmas cd- awesome.

Thanks so much for the support!!!!!!

Just want to tell everyone that left comments that I so appreciate them!!!!! It means so much to me!!!!! I also wanted to tell you that I can't respond back-(Blogger keeps you anonymous) unless you e-mail me. So- Rebecca - please write me via my e-mail. Hugs to all- I will be glad when the contest is over- but I am so happy I entered-. I learned so much - such great talent. Be sure and check out Robyn England's and Fiddlettes' kits - they are 2 of the sweetest and most talented ladies I know. JD- my eldest hurt his leg at basketball and I took him for an Xray Sat. He did not have a new fracture - but they found an old one and they think that might be the reason for the pain. Anyway- they could not get us in until the 29th- but JD played bb for the doctor and we called him and he got us in Thursday! Praise God!!!! I so hope that he can still play basketball this season- he has turned his life around and wants to play now.

Freebies!

This is a free add on pack for my just dreamy Scrapartist kit.There is a 12x 12 scroll frame that you can resize and 2 journaling boxes. You can download it here.
I also have a posting freebie as so many of you requested my apprentice entries.

This kit includes my 2 texture papers. and metal charm. I also have a brush for the word art, a glitter word, a fuzzy 17 inch fiber and a stitched frame. To receive this- just post a link to your layout using my just dreamy - 2 dollar kit and send me a link to dozierfamily@insightbb.com

I will then send you the link to download this- available for 1 week only! Thanks again- Lisa

Yeah- my debut kit is in the Scrapartist store for only 2 dollars!!!!!!!! You can get it here.Your purchase gives me a vote- which I really appreciate! Thanks so much! Lisa

another just dreamy layout

I did one more layout with my new kit. This paper made me want to use it for Christmas- so
I did. I am anxious to check out all the great apprentice kits tomorrow at scrapartist. I am sure I will want them all. Only 2 dollars- so 16 bucks for 8 kits- not bad at all! lol It will be a long week of anticipation. In the meantime- trying to catch up on CT things. Emily had a bb game tonight and JD got his haircut!!!!!! I love it - but he hates it. He looks like a different person. I had the fun job of trying to unscrew the gauge (earrings) he had in so he could go to practice. No one could get them undone- so I hunted for a pair of hemostats and got it unscrewed in time. Everyday I have to do something new for these kids. Who would have thought I would use my old nursing stuff for that. Actually they were last used for soldering my microscope slides- (to hold them).

A sneak peek

I did this layout with my Just Dreamy kit that will be for sale at Scrapartist soon! It will be only 2 dollars and is just full of neat things! I only have a few things shown here. It has doodles, brushes, metals, collage elements and more! I will post the link as soon as I have it. I appreciate all of your support and kind comments. I wish I could respond to everyone- but blogger does not let you. Thanks for looking and be sure to check out all the other apprentice kits- I am sure I will want them all! All the ladies are so very talented!

I finished!!!!

I did it! I uploaded my first ever kit to to the Scrapartist server this afternoon! I did not think I would ever complete it , as I had so many ideas- I could hardly narrow it down . It is a relief to have it completed and my Dh is probably more happy than I am! He has had to babysit while I worked! I thank God that he was off , or I would not have gotten it done. So he is very happy that he can return to his deer stand.

Aren 't these flowers just beautiful!!!!!! My dear family surprised me with this gorgeous bouquet! And if that was not enough , my Dh shocked me by buying me my dream computer!

I have never had a new computer before! I always have just put together my family's hand me downs and used those over the years. I usually just go out to eat for my birthday so this was a shock!!!!!!!! It is a Dell Inspiron,1.7 ghz,core duo processor, 1 gb ram, 16ogb harddrive and a 17 inch wide screen!!!!! I have not had time to play with it as I have been making my SA kit. My only problem is keeping it safe from the kids! Matt from computer works (my fave shop) came and set up my network for me and it is awesome to access my external hard drive and desktop! I am so happy I can play with it now!

What a week!!!!!!!!!!

Woohoo! I have had the best week !!!!!!!! I am so excited I am in shock! My birthday is this week (big 45) and I am going to the final Scrapartist apprentice round!!!!!!! WOOHOO~ All 9 of us are creating a kit to sell in the store. It is truly a dream come true for me. I love to create art, and to be able to sell it just validates it. There will be 5 of us that will become Scrapartist designers. And if that is not enough- I am typing this on my brand new DELL laptop!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never had a new computer before- just my family's old ones they were getting rid of. So - my DH surprised me with a fully loaded, 1.7 ghz, duo core, 1 gb ram, 160 gb Hd, and a 17 inch wide screen!!!!!!!!!! It is a Dell Inspiron 9400- awesome. Then my friends at computer works in Chatham , came and installed my network , so I can share all my files and my external hard drive. Sweett!
I also got the most gorgeous bouquet of flowers- for my birthday from my family! It is one of the prettiest I have seen. I will upload pics soon.
Both my kids get all A's and B's in school- ( my son was failing last year on purpose) so I could not be happier-and JD is going to cut his hair and play basketball!!!!!!!! Thank you Lord!!!!!
Icing on the cake- I got a wonderful critique from Michele Coleman about my entries!!!!!!! ( all 9 of us did)-- Scrapartist rocks!!!!!
Just wanted to tell someone as I am about to explode with all these blessings!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Back to work on my kit!!!!!!!!

I did it !!!!! yeah- I finished a complete uc and LC doodled alpha on my Wacom!! woot! You can get all of the above for free - right here. I am so tired - so off to bed I go.

Yippee !!!!!!!! I made it to round 4!!!!!!!

I have been posting really! It is just that blogger has been eating them! grrrr. So I got mad after writing them and waited until today. Yes - I am so excited to go on to round 4 in the Scrapartist Apprentice challenge!! There were 90? Of us to start and I made it to the final 1o!!!!! Happy dance!!!!!! I am humbled to be chosen with all the terrific talent out there. To those of my friends that did not go forward- I think you are all winners and keep designing!!! I will look for your things in the shops! I give all credit to the Lord for the talent he has given me! Before I started this- I prayed and John prayed that if this was not His will for my life that He would shut the door. I have learned over the years that just because I want something and think it is perfect - it may not be what God thinks too. I can save myself a lot of misery to put Him first in my endeavors. This is the last round before 5 of us create a kit to be sold for a dollar at Scrapartist. 2 winners will be chosen to sell at their store.
My things for this round will be offered as freebies , so be sure and check out the gallery for them. The challenge is to create 2 brushes from Dover clipart and 2 doodles. I have had so many people tell me they love that I kept my fairy tales them throughout the competiton - so I am keeping it this round. I do not know whether that will help or hurt. I also have been creating giveaways at SBG - check out the Studio matters blog. If I ever figure out how to give away things on my blog - I will.
I got a wonderful surprise in the mail this week!!!! Some angel sent me an anonymous- from a friend spa package as an early birthday present!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!!!! I love it - but want to thank the person that gave it to me! Should I go for a massage?
Okay- back to reality and errands, diapers, laundry and other monotonous things-

I made it!!!!!!!!!

WooHoo !!!!!! happy dance ! I am so excited to find out that I made it to Round 4!!!!!!!!! Yeah!!!
It was a tough round and I thank God for the talent He has given me. I am humbled because all the other entries were terrific! There are 10 of us , down from 90. This round involves brushes and doodles! I love brushes! But I usually make mine from stock photos and they said it needs to be clip art. I love a challenge. They also said to use Adobe Illustrator- which I do not have- but my Mom is getting me it for my Birthday/Christmas present! I can get it for 95 dollars with an educational discount. I have been wanting it for quit awhile - so this will be fun to play with.
Thanks Mara and Jeannie for the sweet comments! I would reply to the comments - but Blogger does not let you do that like typepad did.
Emily has done an awesome job playing basketball!!!!! she is a natural , just like JD. Unfortunately the 7th grade team she is on (she is in 6th grade) has 1 small 7th grader - the rest of the 6th graders are VERY tiny. So - the little ones moving the ball on the court , get it stolen everytime. They can't get it to the taller girls. So - they have not won. Also - we have no second string- so all the girls are very worn out by the second half. Then the other teams put in their rested second string . But - I give them A+ for effort - they do not give up.
The school will not let JD pull his bangs back - so I do not know whether he will play BB. I am praying he will. He is so talented and everyone- all the team wants him. Everyday - someone asks me if he will. I have tried every tactic in the book- even thought of bribing his girlfriend to be "delilah" and cut it off. LOL
Ben has a cold and diarrhea and to no surprise he is not sleeping!!!!! I let him cry 2 nights ago and he went steady for a good 30 minutes. Daddy had left for work at 4 and Em could not hear him- so no one to rescue him from mean mom!
gotta get busy! thanks for your support!

I made it to round 3!

Here is my submission for the Scrapartist challenge. We were to create stitches, a metal element, a glitter element and something uniquely yours. The real challenge of this round was to do it while cleaning and cooking for my wonderful family that I have not seen in years. They drove 22 hours to be here from VA. I created everything 100% digitally and have never done the metal -without a style. I made it from metal overlays and tweaked the styles until they were "right". But what I like and what everyone else does are 2 different things. LOL I will just be happy that I gave it 150% , and be satisified with that. I hope to be posting more as I anticipate a little more time.

first day

used the awesome Basics collection from SBG and Ronna Penner's free template from the SBG newsletter, fonts- diesel and ck woodbine and photoblast action- chocolate

This is a fabulous free template from Ronna. You can get it here. I have been so busy with CT things, doing house projects and just the day to day - caring for Ben and cooking- there has not been any time left for artistic endeavors! This weeks voting is on Friday for the Scrapartist apprentice. There are so many beautiful papers I do not know how they will judge! I did not know whether to go with a painterly over textured approach - or scrap paper. But - I did not want to keep second guessing so I turned them in early. It is in God's hands- will see. My family from VA. is coming on the 14th!!!!!!!! Yippee~ I can't wait! Have not seen them in ages!

This is for the 10 things I would do over challenge at SBG -I used Doris Castle's Windows of time kit.and Maya's weathered treasures kit, fonts, PS bluegum froest, Porcelain, brush- damned in black

I made it to round 2 !!!!!!!! woohoo! I am so excited ! This contest round required that you make 2 papers focusing on texture. Texture!!!! Yeah - I love texture and I had to put restraints on to not put on too much. I have folders of textures I have been collecting. The red one has a coarse paper texture and concrete and the pink has more of a linen texture with a few scratches. I kept the similar color scheme as I love it. If you missed the contest it is at scrapartist. The link to see the other submissions is here.
News on the homefront- Jd had homecoming dance last weekend and this one.

His girlfriend is a cutie- wish my son had shorter hair than her! Went all over the mall one night looking for turquoise men's stuff- not an easy thing to find!

Emily started basketball and that makes for long days. She does not get home until 545 and with John working overtime- it is hard to get anything done with Ben! I spent the afternoon trying to repair a wall with paint . I had to try to re-rag roll a part of a wall . It was tricky as there were 4 colors of paint - that I had to guess at and I had to do one of a time and 2 base coats. But - it fools the eye and I got it to blend in very nicely . You would really have to look for it to know that part of the wall was repainted.

We are also replacing some fixtures in one upstairs bathroom . I even picked out decorative molding to try and frame up a rather plain mirror. I hope it turns out.

Was blessed that our van battery did not blow up. I have been driving it for a couple of weeks leaking battery acid and my dear FIL hear about it and had a fit! He replaced it and told me it could have blown up!. EEK We were going to take it in this Friday- but he did not want to wait.Yeah!

It is going to get into the 30's tonight! Brrr. I guess fall is really here.

Thanks for listening!

My first kit ever and you can download it!!!

I am so excited that I decided to just go for it and make a kit and enter in the Scrapartist
Apprentice contest. So here is my first kit and you can download it here. I was apprehensive about putting my art out there to be evaluated - but am glad I did. Hope to see some people using it! I just wish I had more time to create. I so enjoy doing it.
Seems everyday I end up having a BIG MESS to clean up- yesterday a brand new bottle of fabric softener fell off the dryer and spilled out all over the utility room and under the washer and dryer- uggh.
Have a great day!

Happy Birthday Lori!

credits- sara carling amalie kit


Hope you have a great day Lori!!!!!!!!! I wish you a great dinner and retail therapy and blessings all year! HMM - maybe I should post a couple of pics? LOL

I have been too busy lately! I am going to try to balance my life - really! So tired to do much - Ben did not sleep again- but I know the reason why! I caught JD giving him DRPepper!!!!!!!! But I did not catch him until he had drunk almost half a can!!!!!!!!!! I was so upset.
Homecoming is this weekend and next. After the flowers, shirt and tie- I am broke. JD is going to work for it though. He has a new girlfriend- but as soon as I scrap them they break up- kind of like knitting a sweater- old wive's tale. So maybe I better not scrap the pics?

I have been given a new blinkie- it is on the right-studio crew!

I am very excited and a bit overwhelmed by it! Just love the studio girls- they are terrific!

credits-all Sausan designs- industrial grunge and beautiful new day- pp, flower. AL chaisma font, my brush

promise to write more frequently!!!

Here are a few microscope slide necklaces I made a long time ago. I used leading and a solder gun to put them together. I borrowed my FIL's gun and it "exploded" while soldering them. I felt like a mad scientist- my daughter rushed in to see what happened - there was smoke and sparks! My son just shook his head and said- "mom's at it again." lo
Ben is finally sleeping a bit better- only up once or twice - quick nurse and back in his crib. He is even waking up in the morning in it ! yeah! Bought him a "cage"- lol- it is a superyard open bottom "playpen". I told Em to only call it his Fort! He kept getting into everything- stuff I can't baby proof- like my harddrive- that he insists on turning off! I really wanted it to put the Christmas tree in.
Here is a CT layout- all by JoDE Lawrence at Altered Scrapping.

quick post

Wow - I have several blog subscribers! I am excited to know someone is out there!!!! LOL If you subscribe- all you do is click on the right column and enter your e-mail. You will not get spam or anything. You will just get my newest blog entry in an e-mail.
I found the keys after searching all day and John found them in a basket! I can' t remember anything lately. I need a heavy duty "spackle" to erase the permanent black circles under the eyes. Anyway- I have been designing a lot of things and having fun doing it. I have been praying about it and put it in the Lord's hands. I do not want to put the cart before the horse. I have tons of ideas and have been learning all I can. I need to know how to do a lot of things- ie - getting my metals to look realistic enough. I have been making overlays, brushes , patterns, alphabets, textures- you name it. I tried a channel selection and I want to learn more. I need to learn ribbons- etc. I want to learn it all - just very hard with Ben into EVERYTHING!

Had a wonderful surprise- had a message at Scrapartist that they wanted to put my artwork in their upcoming Muse newsletter! It is the teesha moore challenge that was featured on Inspire Me Thursday. It is shown below. Anyway , I said sure and they gave me a $6.99 gift certificate.
I get to shop! yippee- retail therapy! Maybe I will save it until the next sale!
Need to go- Ben is crying in his high chair. Em went to a football game and JD was grounded for curfew violation- but he drove with Dad .

What a LOOOOOOOONG weekend!! Never thought I would ever get the kids back to school!
Friday I spent the day with JD having his wisdom teeth out . Saturday he felt good enough to run around with his friends - he is doing amazingly well. But he is tough as nails! He broke his arm at 5 and he went for weeks without really complaining. The doctor told me he could not have broken it and I asked nicely if she would just do an x-ray to humor me. Sure enough it was broken! I thought it was because I saw him at baseball practice and he was wincing a bit as he was pitching. He had broken it on the playground and just said it hurt a little.
The album above is a paper bag album I did for my pregnancy. The picture is terrible= I need to scan it as it is so textural. It says 9 mos to baby , and I has texture paste on the front I stenciled on . It was really fun to do - with lots of pockets and things that open up.
It was fun to make and I sewes the pages to the bag and left sides open as pockets for tags.

This has a library pocket that pulls out with my dr appt.s on it and information.

The shower pics are in a mini album - held closed with a paper clip. the tags that pull out have one for who, what, when and where. I will show more later. Ben is fussing and I need to go and look for JD's keys= I hid them and I can't remember where I put them! I have looked all over and can't find them! I have until 3 to locate them. You would have thought I lost his prize possession or something! Wish me luck!!! LOL

a new challenge

credits- I did this with a drawn sketch and painted it with my brushes
This is for a Christine Adolph challenge at Scrapartist. It is to be inspired by her art.
She has so many beautiful designs. I think this would be easier in real life.
Someone I respect said that I should try designing. That would be my dream - it scares me - as I am so new to PS and I have so many things to learn. My biggest problem by far- is the time.
Ben is getting into everything lately and I have less time to do anything. I am my own worst critic and I am afraid I would agonize over making things- "perfect"! LOL I am praying about it.
Tomorrow, JD is having 5 wisdom teeth taken out. Yes- 5 - he has an extra! So please pray that all goes well. He thinks he will be fine by Saturday to hang with his friends! I remember how I felt- oh my. So - I will be pretty busy the next few days !
Have a great weekend- will post if I can .

credits- Everything by M. Coleman except, deckle edges by Gina Miller, Tag by Gina Cabrera, NRJ alpha stamps, Stitches by Maya fonts- AL age old love, antique type

Finally , scrapped a "normal" page. I have been wanting to scrap this photo of Ben- in one of his cute expressions. I did not like the colors he had on - they were an Easter egg blue and yellow- so I changed them to fit these papers. His personality is really starting to show and this picture was taken 3 months ago. He is crawling and getting into everything lately. It is even harder to get anything accomplished. He needs a baths - so I am being paged!
Added a feedblitz subscription sign up in the column to the right. All it does is send you an e-mail of a new post. I like feedblitz because you do not have to hunt to read your favorite blogs. Anyway - it is there if you want to - I am just glad I am not talking to myself all the time and there are real people that stop by- LOL. goodnight!

credits- maya's paper , shabby princess flowers, brushes- damned in black
font- 2 peas sonnet

This turned out to look Anne Gedde's like and not at all what I planned. Oh well, I just was looking foreword to fall.

I am so excited!!!!!!!

I am shocked! I was flipping around looking at different sites and I checked in at Inspire Me Thursday and did a double take to see my first entry there as featured art!!! It was posted on August 24th! WOW- I looked at the number of entries and that made my day! I did not know they picked some art to feature. Just had to share.

my favorite

credits- AL- charisma
Just could not help doing another one. I love it- I made the little hat and really had so much fun putting it all together. I keep thinking of more I want to do.

a Challenge-

credits- all mine!! font- arriere garde
ScrapArtist has a challenge to create something inspired by Teesha Moore. Great site- love her artwork-and her studio is sooooooooo amazing. Wow- would be such a dream job to be able to sit in there and play all day and make money doing it! I was so excited about this journal page , as it is similar to my non - digital art.
Very neat to merge 2 things. I had fun creating the paper (non- digital) - see below for instructions- I used Tim Holz water based distessing inks. The rest was done digitally. I do not like my handwriting with the tablet- But am going to keep at it until it looks like my in real life doodling.
What a busy week- have had to pick up the kids from school- drive to Springfield , go to the dentist,go to the store twice this week. Everything is so difficult with the baby. Need to run-

altered tote & back to school

Here is a tote that altered over a year ago- before baby. It was a plain canvas one that I used paints, fabric stamps and gel medium transfers to alter it. I need to take more pics of things I have stuffed in my closets.

I test drove some new colors of distressing ink on the ruler book pages. My plan is to print my digital stuff and adhere it to and embellish- ( in my spare time)- lol If you do this- wear gloves!grin The process is - dab the ink pads onto a non stick sheet,mist with water and then put the paper on it. Use a heat gun to dry without distortion. These instructions were in a CK magazine from Tim Holz.

The kids went to school for 2 hours and I went after to try and straighten out the mess they made of my son's schedule-or lack of one. They put him as a sophomore and he is a junior! He was told he lacked .5 credit and he would need to take a correspondance course. This was a a surprise and I was so upset as I had called the 2 weeks before school and no one would call me back.It is critical for him to start off on the right foot as he went to another school last year and is coming back to the school. It will be hard to "fit" back in. He said no one cares at this school for me and I can see why he felt that way. So- I stopped for gas on the way and a lady pulled in to get gas and was talking to me while we got gas and we got to talking about school. I told her what was happening and she prayed for me and told me to make sure I did not lose my witness. I really had peace after that and I consider it a divine appointment! Thank you Lord. She had prayed that I would have favor and get things squared away at school. Never had seen her before! When I got to school the line at the counselor's office had 20 kids waiting. The secretary got me in immediately and the counselor- looked at everything again and put him in as a Junior.He said- I have never seen this ever- they have never offered 2 English classes - yet there it is -- so he can get in it! Praise God!
Anyway, all is changed and the way it should be. Even if JD does not do well - I did all I can. He said he wanted to go back so he can learn .
Now I need to do some housework- blah!

retail therapy

credits- Sausan Designs at PDW- The new urban art paper, altered artistry elements, flower, alpha. heart-t.cosgrove
I had tears in my eyes doing this layout. These pictures were taken of my father not too long before he died. I was 18 months old when he passed away from heart surgery to repair aortic stenosis. Now it is a routine surgery and he would have lived a normal life. He was a high school coach, little league umpire and a high school teacher. The kids loved him.
Yesterday , I needed to get out and away from everyone. I needed a break terribly. I spent the afternoon going to all my favorite stores. Really did not buy much - but had fun just being away. I had not done that since last November when Ben was born. I went to my 2 favorite scrapbook stores of course. I am glad I went - I found new inspiration seeing all the new things.It also made so glad that I scrap digitally! I forgot how much that all cost. Anyway- I found out the store can print my borderless 12x12 layouts for 6 dollars. I usually do not scrap that - but nice to know. They can also print other sizes and I might do that for special things.
I also saw Rhonna Farrers new line of papers- Bohemia- very pretty. I was surprised to not find her name on any of them. Love - Urban couture- basic grey.
So what did I buy? I got several colors of Tim Holz's distressing ink. I also bought his ruler blank book. I fell in love with his book in the Creating Keepsakes latest issue. I am going to experiment and print pages out digitally to put in there. I also got a blank spiral board book by etcetera to do the same. I then had to buy some matching Maya road ribbon to embellish them.
Found an old issue of Digital scrapbooking and bought that. I also went to Tuesday Morning (love it- it is a discount name brand place- they have them all over- check them out). Found a few things - not much and then went to TJ maxx. I did not buy anything there. It was nice to be able to look without having to entertain Ben,tell Emily that no she can't have everything and watch John pace up and down.
Well enough rambling- maybe I will play with my new inks. I also realized I have tons of altered things I have not put in my gallery- that are not digitally done. I made an adorable tote bag, a paper bag book for my pregnancy , altered gourds , etc.
later-

new things

jode lawrence's - new breeze layette
Went to the state fair yesterday. It was hot and when we pulled in to park - Ben was screaming and when we left he was really crying. He settled down and enjoyed most of it - but about 8 pm he had had enough and so had I . I think it was his teeth and all the noise and commotion.Who knows. He rode his first ride with Emily and did pretty well. Really had to hunt to find a spot that was secluded to nurse him to try and calm him and give him some fluids as it was hot.So I found a great spot at the entrance to a building that was closed. All secluded with the plants and a bench to sit on. Started to nurse him and looked up and people were going overhead from the sky glider ride.LOL
We had a bunch of great junk food- I had 2 delicious ears of sweet corn dipped in butter and fresh cut fries and a corn dog. They also had alligator on a stick and fried twinkies- we passed on those! Saw part of a high dive pirate show and that was pretty cool. Had fun looking at the hobbies and crafts building as I know a lot of the ladies that entered. A friend of mine - Janice placed a grand prize for her beautiful crocheted afghan. I had the pleasure of seeing her Tuesday and helped her learn how to do intarsia.

f- for fairy

credits- Iod- paper, letter/paper M. Coleman, rest paper relics
Finished my other letter - when we are done we get a whole alpha at ScrapArtist!

bits and pieces

credits-Paisely art and elegant Paisley kits from Digital bits- JoDe Lawrence.font- arriere garde

credits- M. Coleman- papers, kiss,rhinestoen slide, label stamp. NRJ- letter
The first layout is for JoDe's newest kit. She must never sleep! Whoa - she is like an energizer bunny on steroids. I have lost count the number she has done this month.Her pc must be smokin! The second is an ATC for a scrapartist challenge. So much fun- need to do another letter soon.

This has been such a busy week! Definitely overwhelmed. The kids go to school next week and that will be hard to get in the groove of getting up early.It will be nice to have everyone on the same schedule but I will miss having Emily to entertain Ben.I figured out that he is cutting several more teeth and one popped through.he bit me today nursing and I may be weaning him very soon if he continues!

taggin' along

credits- maya-hat,brad bird- thao cosgrovecharm- miss mint m. wise- stitched bubblebrush- veredfonts- blue baby,1942 report, nasty


Still making tags for my tag book. I am having fun with it and just creating what comes to mind.
Celebrated our 18'th wedding anniversary last night with a great dinner at Olive Garden. John and I had Seafood alfredo and tiramisu. Yumm! Then he surprised me - I had seen a peachy pink luxurious microfiber- dreamy robe at Bergner's and told him that I really wanted it - but would never pay the 68 dollar price tag for it. I would wait for it to go on sale. Well- it did yesterday and he had gotten another 20% off coupon out of the paper. So I got it for 34 dollars!
I tried it on in the store and when i took it off - my black pants were covered in peach fuzz!!!!! I tried getting it off with some packing tape and then we went to eat. After , we were going to get a few groceries- but my stomach did not like the rich dinner and I got sick- felt better after spending some time in the bathroom and was going to go to the store and my milk let down and soaked my shirt- so we went home! LOL
Ben was up every hour last night- even tried him in our bed and he demanded to nurse every hour= I let him only for a couple minutes and he would fall asleep and repeat. ARRRRGGGGGGGGGH~ He has not slept through the night ever!!!!!!!!
He did not take but a 20 minute nap twice yesterday. Jd slept at 2 weeks, Emily did not until she was 2!
need to do tons of cleaning - but am so tired after being kept up- !

credits- mayas- grammophone?,alpha-L.Slawta,brushes-vered,fonts: 1942 report,cold coffee.awaken,da da antiquerist made the brain,chicken wire brush from stock photos