Pie for breakfast.....

Goodbye Dear Friend

We learned today that Cinnabon, the first horse Eryn rode, had to be put down last night.  She suffered from Cushings Disease.  Lately her symptoms advanced and the humane decision was made.  Eryn began riding her in 2006 and had continued to ride her until this summer, when she started acting strange during a lesson.  "Cinni", as we called her, gave Eryn fits when she first began riding her.  But as time went on, Eryn was able to control her and let her know who was in charge.  Eryn learned to trot, jump poles, and canter on Cinni.  Her first horse show was on Cinni.  She had such a great temperament - never one to bite or kick. 

Here's a photo of Eryn riding Cinnabon in 2006.  I can't believe how small Eryn looks on her. 

We sure are gonna miss you, girl!  I'm glad we always gave you lots of hugs and treats. 

An Autumn Layout

Autumn is my favorite time of the year.  I love the sights and smells.  We had some beautiful colors of leaves on our trees this year.  They are all on the ground now, waiting to be raked and stuffed into bags.  I finally had a little time to scrap on Saturday while getting some much-needed rest.  This is a photo of Eryn from last October, using the November kit from Scrap Muse.  I love the color combination and all the wonderful textures.  I added a little extra texture of my own by cutting up the box that was used to ship the box.  A little paint, a little distress ink, and a lot of texture.

Sassy Scrappers Online Crop

Are you ready to rock?  The next Sassy Scrappers crop will be held November 13-16, and we will be rocking around the calendar.  The design team and staff are busy creating some super creative challenges based on the holidays throughout the year.  Pre-crop challenges will be posted Monday, November 9 so you can get an early start.  All other challenges will be post Friday morning, Nov 13. 

AND I will be hosing "Friday the 13th Bingo" on Friday night, of course.  The word list will be posted on November 9 so you'll have time to send me your words.  Bingo will begin at 8:00 p.m. (EST).

Sure hope you'll join us.  There will be lots of challenges including sketches!  RAKs will be given to the winner of each challenge (based on a random drawing).

ScrapMuse is looking for 4 new designers

Would you like to part of a great design team?  Well, we'd like to add 4 designers to our team at ScrapMuse, and you might be the perfect fit.  We are a great group of women, all ages, all styles, and we love to scrap.  ScrapMuse is expanding to offer 2 additional kits each month, and we need to bring on some more designers to help us!  Here are all the details:

We are looking for motivated scrappers that can commit to daily participation in both our message board and gallery. We are looking for a variety of Scrapbooking styles.

Design Team Submission Deadline: November 15, 2009

Design Team Duties to Begin: December 1, 2009

Please Send all Submissions and Questions to: melissa@scrapmuse.com


Guidelines for Submissions:

1. ScrapMuse is an exclusive kit club. You may not design for any other kits clubs. Challenge blogs, manufacturers websites, sketch blogs and magazines are permitted and encouraged.

2. International submissions are welcome. International design team members pay actual shipping cost minus $10.00.

3. Applicants must maintain an active blog.

4. Please submit 4 layouts. Two must be newly created for this call only. Please show us your best work. More than 4 layouts are welcome per entry.

5. Please share a link to your blog and on-line galleries.

6. Please answer the following questions

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? Any kids? Pets? We want to get to know you!

Are you or have you been active on another Design Team, challenge blog, sketch blog, or manufacturer website?

How would you describe your scrapbooking style?

Do you participate in any other scrapbook sites? Please share a link and your user-name.

How long have you been scrapbooking?

What is your favorite product?

What is your favorite candy bar?

7. Participation in our message board and gallery are encouraged and recommended during this call.

8. Currently we do not have terms for our designers. We only ask that you give us a month notice if you need to leave the team.


Design Team Duties

1. Create 4 layouts or projects each month using only the ScrapMuse kit.

2. Post your layouts to our monthly gallery on the 15th of each month.

3. Participate daily in our message board and gallery.

4. Promote ScrapMuse on your blog and other sites where allowed.

5. Create one step by step instruction for one of your layouts each month.

Designer Compensation

1. One of our new smaller kits each month to use for your designs.

2. Generous Design Team discount on additional kits and add-ons.

3. Featured on our Blog and Design Team page.

4. Additional products and freebies are occasionally sent to our Designers.

So what are you waiting for?  You've got 2+ weeks to get your entry together and submitted by Nov. 15th.  Good Luck!

Swine Flu Sucks!

Why is it that the person who does not consume pork, is the one who comes down with swine flu? 

Why is it that my darling husband felt as though he needed to share his flu germs with me? (he has said he's sorry many times)

All I've got to say about it is that in my case, it was a very bad experience - one that I will not forget soon.  Every single part of my body ached, more that it has ever ached before.  There are very few symptoms that I didn't have.  And just when I started to get some relief from the flu, I came down with a bacterial infection.  It has taken four prescriptions and an inhaler to me to the point where I feel somewhat like I'm functioning again.  I still have nine more days of antibiotics, but hope to be back to normal soon.

No, I didn't scrapbook while I was sick.  I wish.  I was too sick to do anything but stay in bed.  Thankfully I was able to complete my October layouts using the ScrapMuse kit before the dreaded flu.

  Here they are.......

These two layouts feature photos that we took in San Antonio while visiting the Missions.  There were some amazing textures, structures, windows, and doors!

Here's a layout using a photo of Sidney and Erica.  I love this photo that was taken at my nephew Nathan's graduation party.

And speaking of my nephew Nathan, here's a photo of him taken at his graduation party with his new family - Jessica and Kirsten - a new beginning.

Wedding Photos!

This weekend my beautiful niece, Lauren, married the love of her life, Jeff.  The wedding was stunning.  It was a perfect autumn day, and I think everything went exactly as Lauren had planned.  They are now on a cruise and hopefully getting some much needed quite time together.  I have exactly 751 photos to go through!  Here are a few of my favorites as I looked through all of them this morning.

The mother-of-the-bride, (my beautiful sister Nancy) putting her pearls on the bride.

Much to my surprise, until I looked at the photos this morning, this was going on, prior to the wedding, in the hotel hallway outside the room where the bride was getting dressed - the flower girl and ring bearer having a little play time.  I think Makenzie has him in a head lock.  I'm sure glad the bride didn't know this was going on, but I'm sure she will laugh at it now!

Sweet Makenzie giving me a daisy as she walked down the aisle.  She looked just like a little princess, and loved her role as flower girl!

Mother and daughter in a touching embrace.  Even though you can't see their faces, I love the emotion in this photo.

My sister and her husband with the bride, groom, and their adorable children, Makenzie & Trevor.

A photo of the happy family!  My the joy you shared on this day be the beginning of a lifetime of happiness (a line from my toast to them).

Finally, all the family photos were taken.  Mark and I got to be alone with Lauren and Jeff to take some photos.  These are three of my favorites.

You both know how much I love you!

The Wedding Countdown

Oh my, I can't believe this little princess, my niece Lauren, is getting married in just 3 days - but she is.  I know she will be an incredibly beautiful bride.  I can't wait to see her walk down the aisle!  (if that's what you call it when it's an outside wedding).  Maybe that's what she was practicing when I took this photo 20+ years ago. 

I hope I don't cry, but I probably will.  We're all praying for a beautiful autumn day.   They've waited so long for this day!

Love is Grand

I created this layout using the October kit from ScrapMuse.  This is my sister-in-law and brother-in-law.  You might not think of beach photos at this time of year, but the colors were perfect for this photo. 

Flight School

I'm busy working with the October kit from ScrapMuse and I love the combination of paper from several manufacturers including Scribble Scrabble and Jillibean Soup.  The colors are fun and it is so easy to work with.  Here's a look at it - "Flight School".  I'll post one of my layouts tomorrow so check back.

Recent Layouts - ScrapMuse September Kit

This month's kit had a variety of color combinations including teal+ orange and blue+green.  Both are on my short list of favorites. 
This layout features blue and green with just a hint of orange, which was a perfect match for my photos.

 

For this one, I used pretty much every color that was in the kit.  The transparency, which I painted on the back, is the one piece that ties into my photo.

 

And lastly, since it's September, and we all have back-to-school on our minds, the design team was challenged to create a school themed layout.  I decided to get out some of my class photos from elementary school and use them on a layout.  This one sure brought back lots of memories!

ScrapMuse September Contest

Here's the challenge Tricia has for you this month:

September is a time when the buzz of back-to-school is hard to not notice.  Whether you are in school, or have kids in school or not, September tends to be a time when you reflect on school in some way.  The challenge this month is to journal about the impact that some/any teacher has made on you or someone you know throughout your life.  This can be positive or negative.  Teachers are human too, and may not always be a positive influence.  Either way, the point here is to work it out through words, reflect on what difference this teacher made and how it has impacted you.  The twist is that you have to hand write your journaling.

Once you have completed your layout, you can post your entries in the ScrapMuse Gallery.   You will be playing for a $25.00 Gift Certificate to the ScrapMuse Store, and the winning layout will be featured on the ScrapMuse blog and website as the "layout of the month".

The design team will select the winning layout by voting for their favorite layout. The deadline for this contest is September 30 at midnight.  I sure hope to see your entries.  Who would pass up a chance to win $25 in scrapping supplies?

A Little Sweetness to Share

Ahh, there is nothing better than a little sweetness to brighten your day.  That's what I get every time I see my darling niece, Macy - or even look at a photo of her.  You can't help but be happy!  I created this layout Monday using the September kit from ScrapMuse.  I love the combination of orange and teal.  All in all, it's just sweet!

My Little Guy

 

There was a 4" x 8" canvas in the August ScrapMuse kit - and - this adorable little felt puppy.  I couldn't resist including a photo of our puppy on the canvas.  I painted it, did some paper transfers using gel medium, and added a photo of the little guy.  It's sitting on a shelf in my studio, where he is, always at my feet (or under them).  He's not always a good boy, but I decided to put that on the canvas as positive reinforcement!

August ScrapMuse Layouts

This month's kit was special because it had a little bit of Basic Grey, some beads, and some really adorable felt embellishments.  Of course that isn't all that was in there, but those are things that made it special to me. And I even made a red layout, something that I don't do very often!

So, I'll begin with the red layout.  This is my very sweet niece Lauren, posing in our front yard in SC.  She flew down, all by herself to spend a couple of weeks of weeks with us in the summer.  That was before the days of terrorists blowing up planes and flying them into buildings.  Those were the days when we didn't fear putting a child on an airplane.

Speaking of SC, the design team was challenged this month to scrap a photo about our home - current or present, inside or outside.  These are photos of our house in SC - the first home my husband and I purchased.  I used the zip code as the title.

This adorable little guy is my nephew, and I don't get to see near as often as I want to.  But when I do get to see him, I just want to take lots and lots of photos, because he's so darn cute.  This was taken last year at his birthday party.  I just love the expression on his face that was captured in this photo.  And, you can see how I used some of the beads in the kit!

And this last layout is my precious great-niece Macy.  This child is beautiful!  Here she is with my sister, her Nana, after her baptism earlier this summer.  I took the bingo card in the kit, cut out the center, painted it with some H2os, and used it as a frame.

I have one more project to share, but I'll save that one for later this week.  This one is already getting very L  O  N  G.

An update on Kiefer and Sandi

We have now had our foster dog Sandi for a little over a week.  She seems to be adjusting to our always busy puppy, Kiefer.  Sandi has a nylabone that we purchased for her and she has become very defensive about it.  So, we had to put it away.  I did some reading, and it isn't appropriate to allow dogs to do that.  Maybe some day she will be able to have it back.

They are both such sweeties and crave our attention.  As long as we're in the room with them, they're happy and content.  If we leave to go upstairs, and don't want them to go with us, this is what they do until we get back:

 

As frustrating as they can be at times, this makes it all worth it.  I still can't believe I have 2 dogs! - and if you know me well, you probably can't believe it either.

Have a great Sunday.

A Look at the August ScrapMuse kit

Here's a look at the August kit from ScrapMuse.  I've been busy working with it for the past couple of weeks, and I really love it.  It's full of amazing colors - red, blue, green, brown, orange, yellow, pink - so it's going to be great for all your summer photos. 

 

Here are a couple of peeks at what I've been working on.  As you can see, they are both quite different.  I love it when I can get so many different looks from a kit!  I've already created six layouts with the kit, and have one more planned.  See that cute little puppy felt embellishment above?  How can I resist using that with a photo of my little guy?  He just had a bath today, so he is especially fluffy and soft. 

FIRST PLACE

 

POOL PARTY!

So far, so good

We are now beginning day 3 with our foster dog, Sandi.  Our initial meeting went well, but Sandi finds our puppy Kiefer to be quite an annoyance.  Kiefer is all up-in-her-face and she really doesn't like that.  He also wants to investigate her food, toys, etc. and that results in a growl and a display of teeth from Sandi.  But I will say, Sandi responds well when I correct her.

Sandi has established herself at the top of the pecking order as far as the two dogs are concerned.  I think that's natural since she's the female, and they tend to be the leader of the pack.  Like Kiefer, she is also very attached to me.  Now I have 2 dogs following me around everywhere I go.  I want to be loved, but maybe not that much!

For the most part, she is a very good dog.  Unlike our puppy, she likes to lay around and sleep a lot.  Kiefer is always busy!  But she does have some issues that we're working on:

• She was free-fed previously.  We don't free-feed Kiefer and don't want to do that for Sandi.  She doesn't eat much in the morning because she expects it to be there all day (NOT), but she does eat well in the evening.
  
  
• She barks when confined to an area of the house where she can't see either my husband or me.  That's the only time we have heard her bark.  We have a crate that my sister loaned us and she really doesn't mind being in there, as long as we are where she can see us.  So that poses a problem for next week when I plan to return to work.  I'm working on leaving her in there for short periods of time, then leaving the room.  So far, the longest has been 45 minutes and she barked the entire time.
  
  
• Worms, did you say worms?  Yes, that's what my husband told me yesterday after taking her out to the back yard to do her business.  So, I'll need to call the vet on Monday.  I'm not surprised as she has a bad habit of killing small animals (even groundhogs) and ingesting them.  So I'm pretty sure that's why she has worms.  We are not leaving her alone in our back yard, which is fenced, so hopefully we can keep her from doing that.
  
  
• She is too attached to me, just like Kiefer (or because of him).  If I leave to go upstairs, they both sit by the gate and wait for me to come back, then fight over who gets affection first.  I always give Sandi affection first since she has established herself as the leader.  I also feed her first, let her go out the door first, etc.  It's hard for me to do, because I feel bad for Kiefer, but have to remember that dogs don't have feelings like humans, and humans must follow the hierarchy the dogs have established. 
  

I suppose things could be a lot worse - at least the two of them don't fight, and Sandi seems to listen to me.  Wish that was true for Kiefer!  I'm going to take her to the nursing home today to see her Dad Owner, so that will make both of them happy.  I'll keep you posted! 

Today's The Day!

We're becoming foster parents today!  A dear couple from the church where I work need a foster home for their sweet dog, Sandi, while they concentrate on their health.  So Mark and I are going to foster their dog until they are able to have her back with them.  A co-worker, Michele, is taking their two cats to live with her for a while.

Michele and I have been busy getting our homes, and our current pets, ready for the new addition.  We're both a little anxious about how our dog and cats will interact with new pets coming into the home.  But today is the day for us to make introductions.

I hope Sandi and Kiefer will like each other.  We plan to introduce them in a neutral place, and allow them to have limited access to each other until they adjust. 

We really don't know Sandi's breed.  She was adopted from a local animal shelter that was trying to find homes for pets rescued from Hurricane Katrina.  She is a very sweet dog and we look forward to taking care of her.

Here's a photo of Sandi.  I took it so her owners would have a photo of her while she's away at camp.  That's what they've told her.

 

I don't want Kiefer to get jealous, so I'll share a photo of him as well. This photo was taken several weeks ago.  He is now 8 months old, and very much still a puppy.  He's such a sweet dog, and loves to lay on the patio and chew on sticks that he finds in the yard!

Wish us luck as we start this new venture!

Busy, busy....

Gosh, things have been really busy lately.  If it weren't for my design team assignments, I probably would have done no scrapping for the past month.  So I'm thankful that I have that push to be creative.  I have no idea what has happened to the end of June and the first weeks of July.  I asked my husband last night if things would be getting back to normal soon.  I sure hope so.  I have a to-do list that is getting longer and longer.  Things are busy at work, there are people who are sick, lots of weekend activities, the puppy had surgery (just the normal boy-stuff and a couple of teeth pulled), still trying to get him to quit using the inside for an occasional potty, and preparing for the possibility of providing a foster home for a dog. 

Okay enough of that.  I can only do so much in one day, so I'll just continue to whittle away at my list of things to do, and try to keep a smile on my face.

Here are my projects using the July kit from ScrapMuse.  I just loved working with all the bright colors.

A Moment for 3 (my inlaws and nephew, who is all grown up now)

 

Macy (My adorable niece, who is this happy all the time!  I need to take a lesson from her)

 

Silly (Sweet, silly Ryan.  Always happy to pose for some photos!)

 

Our Finches (Well we call them our finches, because we spend so much on bird seed to keep them around.  We love watching them in our back yard, and Kiefer loves chasing them!)

 

Mini Album (how cool that Missy included a mini album in this month's kit!)

That's it for now.  I will try to be better about posting (yeah, that's what they all say!)

Recent Layouts

Here are a few more layouts that I created using the June kit from ScrapMuse.  This was such a fun kit to play with!

This photo is quite old, but has always been one of my favorites.  We were staying in a hotel on our way to Disney World, and my son and nephew found these shower caps and decided to wear them.   So glad I had my camera with me!

The kit this month included this sweet little mini book.  I altered mine to use as a gratitude journal.  The pages inside are lined, and it will be easy to add more pages to it.

And here's my new best friend, my sweet little Kiefer.  He has grown so much since since this photo was taken three months ago. 

Happy Father's Day!

My parents are leaving for North Carolina this weekend, so I won't get to see my dad on Father's Day.  I wanted to get this posted a few days early so he can see it before they leave.  Have a great trip!

 

This layout was created using the June kit from ScrapMuse.  I'll share more of my layouts with you over the weekend.

It's finally Thursday

............and I don't have to work tomorrow.  I need to go in over the weekend, because I didn't get much accomplished this week, but I'll think about that on Saturday morning (when I'm sure I'd rather stay home).

Kiefer (the puppy) seems to be feeling better.  The vet can't really tell what's wrong with him.  It could be one of many things.  He's now on 3 new medications, so hopefully they will help.  The good news is, he ate two meals yesterday and two meals again today.  He's lost weight and looks rather skinny, so I'll be happy when he fattens up a little.  But his poo still isn't normal.  Sorry if that's "TMI" but those things are important in a puppy.

Here's a layout I completed using the June kit from ScrapMuse.  I created the background on watercolor paper using a thick layer of gel medium.  After that dried, I applied a coat of thinned acrylic paint, and several washes and splatters of Glimmer Mist.  It was so much fun.  It all started with a fortune I found wrapped up in a fortune cookie at lunch that day.  It says, "If you continually give, you will continually have".  I stuck it in my purse and brought it home to add to my collage.  Everything I've used is from the June kit which is full of a great assortment of paper.

I challenged myself to scrap only photos of boys or men this month, since I tend to create layouts about all the beautiful women and girls I love so much.  I guess I cheated on my very first layout, but I knew this is one that Eryn would appreciate.  And she loved it so much that she is in the process of making her own background and collage.  I love what she's done so far!

Things are busy......

My father-in-law is in the hospital, and I just want him to get better so he can go home.  Everyone wants him to get better.  It's so difficult having a parent that's ill.  I know you're not supposed to worry about things, but that's not always so easy to do.

In addition, our puppy has been ill for about 2 weeks now.  He's not getting better, either.  So Wednesday we're back to the vet.  I suppose they will do an x-ray to see if there's an obstruction, to find out if that's what is causing him to no longer be interested in food

I've had very little time to scrap, and it's driving me crazy to have the fantastic June kit from ScrapMuse sitting here waiting for me.  I've managed to complete a couple of layouts.  I'll share one tomorrow.  Here's a photo of the kit.  Missy (the new owner of ScrapMuse) has done a awesome job choosing these fun patterned papers and embellishments.  I love, love, love chipboard shapes, and was super excited to have some in this month's kit!

Some recent projects

The May kit from ScrapMuse was full of fun paper and embellishments!  Here are my projects, all my granddaughter, Eryn, all at various ages:

Have you scrapped your mother lately?

So, have you?  I admit that most of my layouts are centered around children.  Since Mother's Day is almost upon us, I wanted to create a layout about my mother.  I scanned these two old photos of my mother holding me when I was less than a year old.  I wanted to preserve the originals, and I think they scanned pretty well (with a little help from PhotoShop, of course). 

I decided to combine these old black & white photos with some bright colors.  I like the contrast.  I also wanted to include some sewing, since my mother taught me to sew.  There was some tulle in the May ScrapMuse kit, so I wrapped some of that around my block of photos.  I love using old typewriter fonts, and chose that for my title.  Not much journaling, just a simple statement that says a lot - Love you mother.